LIBRARY 

Of  THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA. 
1<fi\  JAN  IS    1893  .  189 

• 

t/lcce*siotis  A' 

• 

i 


LAND  AND  LABOR 


IN 


THE   UNITED    STATES 


BY 

WM.    GODWIN   MOODY 

AUTHOR  OF  "  OUR  LABOR  DIFFICULTIES:  THE  CAUSE  AND  THE  WAY  OUT, 

"THE  DISPLACEMENT  OF  LABOR  BY  IMPROVEMENTS 

IN  MACHINERY,"  ETC.,  ETC, 


NEW  YORK 
CHARLES   SCRIBNER'S   SONS 

1883 


COPYRIGHT,  1883,  BY 
WM.   GODWIN  MOODY. 


Ml»t  0'    I.    i.  IITTH   I  CO., 
KOt.    I*  tO  !«   AitOH    rtACt,  NIW   TOM. 


TO 

MRS.    ELIZABETH    THOMPSON, 

THE    CONSTANT    FRIEND 

OF    THE    LABORER   AND    THE    DISTRESSED, 
WHOSE     SYMPATHY     AND     INVALUABLE     ASSISTANCE, 

FROM    FIRST    TO    LAST, 
HAVE    SO    GREATLY    AIDED    MY   WORK, 

THIS    VOLUME 

IS    GRATEFULLY    INSCRIBED 
BY 

THE  AUTHOR. 


PEEFACE. 


IN  the  preparation  of  this  volume  it  has  been  my 
purpose  to  bring  into  the  discussion  those  great 
factors  that  have  been,  heretofore,  so  uniformly  over- 
lopked,  or  designedly  ignored.  The  condition  of  the 
great  masses  of  the  people  —  their  idleness  and  their 
employment,  with  their  consumption  as  well  as  pro- 
duction—  appear  to  me  to  be  matters  of  the  utmost 
importance.  The  radical  ctiaiige_2n__alLoui^jiiethods 
of  production  is~another~thing  that  seems  to  be  of 
great  interest,  and  vitally  affecting_th&  welfare  o£ 
mankind.  But  I  have  failed  to  find  that  others 
have  deemed  them  of  sufficient  moment  to  merit 
even  the  most  casual  inquiry. 

It  has  long  been  a  decided  conviction  in  my  mind 
that  a  knowledge  of  the  condition  of  the  people  is  of 
as  great  importance  as  the  knowledge  of  their  num- 
ber, and  I  succeeded  in  having  a  clause  added  to  the 
last  census  bill,  providing  for  an  enumeration  to  be 
made* of  the  number  who  were  found  idle,  also  of  the 
employed,  and  the  amount  of  their  employment  dur- 
ing the  previous  year.  But  the  method  adopted  in 
taking  the  census  made  it  valueless.  The  workers 
themselves,  who  alone  could  have  answered,  were  not 

iii 


iv  PREFACE. 

inquired  of,  but  all  inquiries  were  directed  to  board- 
inghouse  keepers  and  employers,  who  did  not  know 
and  could  not  answer.  Had  it  been  the  deliberate 
purpose  of  the  Census  Bureau  to  defeat  the  objects 
of  the  provision,  a  more  certain  means  could  not  have 
been  adopted.  Failing  to  obtain  this  most  important 
information  through  the  census,  I  have  been  com- 
pelled to  ascertain  the  idleness  in  the  country  by 
other  methods. 

Much  the  larger  portion  of  the  facts  here  used  is 
the  result  of  my  personal  observations  and  diligent 
inquiries,  in  which  I  have  received  the  sympathy  and 
encouragement  of  valued  friends  who  saw  the  import- 
ance of  the  facts  collected,  and  the  line  of  the  discus- 
sion, though  they  might  not  now  altogether  accept 
the  conclusions  reached.  Among  others  I  venture  to 
give  the  names  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Edward  Everett  Hale 
and  Rev.  Minot  J.  Savage,  Boston ;  Senator  George 
F.  Hoar,  Massachusetts  ;  Senator  Henry  W.  Blair, 
New  Hampshire;  Rev.  Edward  Anderson,  Toledo, 
Ohio ;  Hon.  George  William  Curtis,  Rev.  Dr.  R. 
Ilfber  Newton,  and  Mrs.  Elizabeth  Thompson,  New 
U  City. 

To  the  last  named,  in  particular,  am  I   indebted 

•hat  substantial  aid  so  necessary,  ami  yet  so  hard 

to  find,  that  lias  rnablrd  me  to  carry  my  work  to  the 

point  \\h»-iv   tin-  ivuder  takes  it.     If,  as  I  hope,  my 

:  ts   shall    ha\v   the  effect  of  opening  a  discussion, 

pointing  out  a  way  by  which  humanity  may  be 

1.  t<>  ili.it   uol.lr  woman,  fully  as  much  as  to 

myself,  will  the  debt  of  gratitude  be  due. 

W.  G.  M. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER    I.  .PAGE 

MACHINERY  IN  AGRICULTURE, 9 

CHAPTER  II. 

THE  BONANZA  FARMS,    -        -        -  -        -  31 

CHAPTER  III. 

GROWTH  AND  DEVELOPMENT  OF  BONANZA  AND  TENANT 
FARMS, 74 

CHAPTER  IV. 

ENGLISH  AND  AMERICAN  LAND  HOLDINGS  AND  RAILROAD 
LAND  GRANTS, -88 

CHAPTER  V. 

SUMMARY  AND  EFFECTIVE  MEASURES  FOR  BREAKING  UP 
GREAT  LANDED  ESTATES  AND  TENANT  HOLDINGS,  AND 
RESTORING  THE  PUBLIC  DOMAIN  TO  THE  PEOPLE,,  -  112 

CHAPTER  VI. 
MACHINERY  IN  TEXTILES  AND  OTHER  MANUFACTURES,        136 

CHAPTER  VII. 

EFFECTS  OF  THE  WAR  OF  THE  REBELLION  UPON  THE  LA- 
BOR OF  THE  COUNTRY, 149 

CHAPTER  VIII. 
THE  WAR  OF  THE  REBELLION  AND  THE  BUSINESS  AND 

WEALTH  OF  THE  COUNTRY, 164 

v 


vi  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER    IX.  PACE 

DID  RAILROAD  BUILDING  CAUSE  OUR  INDUSTRIAL  DIS- 
TRESS,   174 

CHAPTER  X. 
MONEY  AND  THE  INDUSTRIAL  DISTRESS,         -        -        -    181  * 

CHAPTER  XI. 

ION  TRADE  is   NO   REMEDY  FOR  OUR  INDUSTRIAL' 
DISTRESS, 198 

CHAPTER  XII. 

CONSTANT  WORK  FOR  ALL,  WITH  LIBERAL  WAGES,  THE 
ONLY  SOURCE  OF  A  NATION'S  PROSPERITY,  -  -  215 

CHAPTER  XIII. 
THK  RELATIONS  OF  TRADE  TO  THE  EMPLOYMENTS  OF  THE 

PUB, 236 

CHAPTER  XIV. 
Six  HOUR  LAW  AND  REASONS  FOR  ITS  ENACTMENT,      -    252 

CHAPTER  XV. 
THE  GOSPEL  OF  RELAXATION,  by  Herbert  Spencer,    -        -    276  . 

CHAPTER  XVI. 

GENERAL  EFFECTS  OF  THE  MKC  MANUAL  CHANGES  OF  THE 
PAST  FIFTY  YEARS,  AND  OF  INDUSTRIAL  REDISTRI- 
BUTION IX  THK  1TTUIE, 286 

CHAPTER  XVII. 

TENTH  ANNUA:  .;T,   BUREAU  OF  STATISTICS,   FOR 

THE  STATE  or  MASSACHUSETTS,       •       •       -       -    307 

CHAPTER  XVIII. 
WHAT  SHALL  WE  Do  ? 330 


LAND  AND  LABOR 


IN 


THE  UNITED   STATES 


LAND  AND  LABOR. 


CHAPTER  I. 

MACHINERY   IN   AGRICULTURE. 

T^HE  eminent  French  Archseologist,  M.  Louis  Fi- 
GUIER,  in  his  "L'Homme  Primitif,"  says  that 
in  the  Stone  Age,  before  metals  were  known,  all  the 
efforts  of  man  "  must  have  tended  to  one  sole  aim  - 
that  of  insuring  his  daily  subsistence."  So  it  is  at 
this  day  for  the  large  majority  of  mankind.  The  long 
ages  that  have  followed  that  period,  with  the  marvel- 
lous developments  of  civilization  — -  the  discovery  of 
metals,  the  construction  and  improvement  of  tools 
and  machinery  of  every  nature  that  have  increased 
more  than  an  hundred  fold  man's  power  of  producing 
all  that  enters  int'o  his  daily  sustenance  and  comfort 
—  have  not  changed  the  fact  that  he  still  has  but  the 
"  one  sole  aim  —  that  of  insuring  his  daily  subsist- 
ence." The  ratio  of  failures  to  achieve  that  object 
could  not  have  been  greater  in  the  Stone  Age  than  in 
the  present ;  and  never  before,  in  any  age,  were  prac- 
tically one  half  of  mankind  forced  out  of  all  produc- 
tive pursuits  into  idleness  and  destitution. 


10  LAND  AND  LABOR. 

The  discovery  of  metals,  the  construction  and  im- 
provement of  tools  and  machinery  of  every  nature  that 
have  so  wonderfully  increased  man's  power  of  produc- 
tion, have  revolutionized  all  the  social  and  industrial 
relations  of  mankind  in  almost  exact  proportion  to 
their  development  and  use.  Even  the  moral  forces, 
also,  are  acted  upon  and  stimulated  for  good  or  evil, 
in  like  degree,  by  these  material  discoveries  and 
developments.  This  revolution  is  not  confined  to 
Christendom ;  it  reaches  out  and  extends  into  all  so- 
cieties and  countries  possessed  of  any  degree  or  class 
of  civilization. 

If  these  premises  be  true,  and  they  hardly  admit  of 
a  doubt,  it  follows  as  a  matter  of  necessity  that  we 
must  examine,  in  some  degree,  into  the  nature  and 
extent  of  these  material  developments  if  we  really 
wish  to  obtain  a  correct  understanding  of  the  causes 
and  tendencies  of  the  world's  present  material  distress 
and  moral  destitution.  In  opening  this  discussion  it 
appears  to  be  proper  to  lay  down  certain  economic 
principles  that  have  become  fixed,  and  are,  as  nearly 
as  possible,  universally  accepted  as  fundamental. 

A«lam  Smith,  in  his  Wealth  of  Nations,  more  than 
OIK-  hundred  years  ago,  taught :  — 

Tlint.  "the  annual  labor  of  every  nation  is  the  fund  which 
inally  supplies  it  with  all  the  necessaries  and  conveniences 
of  life  which  it  annually  consumes." 

That  "the  demand  for  those  who  live  by  wages  naturally  in- 
creases with  the  increase  of  national  wealth,  and  can  not  possi- 
bly inm-asr  without  it." 

That  "it  is  not  in  the  richest  countries,  but  in  the  most  thriv- 
ing, or  in  those  which  are  growing  rich  the  fastest,  that  the 
wages  of  labor  st." 


MACHINERY  IN  AGRICULTURE.  11 

That  "  the  liberal  reward  of  labor,  therefore,  as  it  is  the  ne- 
cessary effect,  so  it  is  the  natural  symptom,  of  increasing  na- 
tional wealth.  The  scanty  maintenance  of  the  laboring  poor, 
on  the  other  hand,  is  the  natural  symptom  that  things  are  at  a 
stand,  and  their  starving  condition  that  they  are  going  fast 
backwards." 

That  "servants,  laborers,  and  workmen  of  different  kinds, 
make  up  far  the  greater  part  of  any  great  political  society. 
What  improves  the  greater  part  can  never  be  regarded  as  an 
inconveniency  to  the  whole.  No  society  can  surely  be  flourish- 
ing and  happy,  of  which  the  greater  part  of  the  members  are 
poor  and  miserable.  It  is  but  equity,  besides,  that  those  who 
feed,  clothe,  and  lodge  the  whole  body  of  the  people,  should 
have  such  a  share  of  the  produce  of  their  own  labor  as  to  be 
themselves  tolerably  well  fed,  clothed,  and  lodged." 

That  "  it  deserves  to  be  observed  that  it  is  in  the  progressive 
state,  while  society  is  advancing  to  further  acquisition,  rather 
than  when  it  has  acquired  its  full  complement  of  riches,  that 
the  condition  of  the  laboring  poor,  of  the  great  body  of  the  peo- 
ple, seems  to  be  the  happiest  and  the  most  comfortable." 

"  When  in  any  country  a  demand  for  those  who  live  by  wages 
— laborers,  journeymen,  servants  of  every  kind  —  is  continually 
increasing ;  when  every  year  furnishes  employment  for  a  greater 
number  than  had  been  employed  the  year  before,  the  workmen 
have  no  occasion  to  combine  in  order  to  raise  their  wages.  The 
scarcity  of  hands  occasions  a  competition  among  masters,  who 
bid  against  one  another,  and  thus  voluntarily  break  through  the 
natural  combination  of  masters  not  to  raise  wages." 

"  But  it  would  be  otherwise  in  a  country  where  the  fund  des- 
tined for  the  maintenance  of  labor  was  sensibly  decaying.  Ev- 
ery year  the  demand  for  servants  and  laborers  would,  in  all  the 
different  classes  of  employment,  be  less  than  it  had  been  the 
year  before.  Many  who  had  been  in  the  superior  classes,  not 
being  able  to  find  employment  in  their  own  business,  would  be 
glad  to  seek  it  in  the  lowest.  The  lowest  class  being  not  only 
overstocked  with  its  own  workmen,  but  with  the  overflowings 
of  all  the  other  classes,  the  competition  for  employment  would 
be  so  great  in  it  as  to  reduce  the  wages  of  labor  to  the  most 


12  LAND  AND  LABOR. 

miserable  and  scanty  subsistence  of  the  laborers.  Many  would 
not  be  able  to  find  employment  even  upon  these  hard  terms, 
but  "would  either  starve,  or  be  driven  to  seek  a  subsistence, 
either  by  begging,  or  by  the  perpetration  of  the  greatest  enor- 
mities." 

That  "  the  liberal  reward  of  labor,  as  it  is  the  effect  of  in- 
creasing wealth,  so  it  is  the  cause  of  increasing  population. 
To  complain  of  it  is  to  lament  over  the  necessary  causes  and 
effects  of  the  greatest  prosperity." 

These  principles,  as  laid  down  by  the  greatest  of 
human  political  economists,  require  no  interpreter. 
But  there  is  an  older  law  in  economics  which,  whether 
a  formal  declaration  by  the  Almighty,  or  something 
that  has  grown  out  of  the  workings  of  an  experience 
simply  human,  is  generally  received  as  of  Divine  ori- 
gin, and  accepted  as  the  law  of  our  existence,  and 
that  is :  — 

"  In  the  sweat  of  thy  face  shalt  thou  eat  bread,  till  thou  re- 
turn unto  the  ground.1' 

In  the  light  of  these  principles,  as  fixed  by  a  higher 
than  human  power,  and  approved  by  human  experi- 
ence, that  only  in  universal  labor,  liberally  rewarded, 

•  be  found  life  and  prosperity,  not  only  for  the  in- 
dividual but  for  society,  we  will  examine  the  facts  of 
our  present  condition. 

iiii;x  from  the  time  in  which  Adam  Smith  wrote 
v. •«•  will  endeavor  to  note  a  few  of  the  changes  in  meth- 
ods and  increase  in  power  of  production  that  have  re- 
sultcd  from  the  invention  and  use  of  machinery,  as  a 
basis  ujiMii  which  to  estimate  its  effects  on  the  demand 

nan's  labor  in  the  supply  of  his  wants,  and  of  his 
present  employment.  But  first  we  will  note  that  at 


MACHINERY  IN  AGRICULTURE.  13 

the  time  of  Adam  Smith  man's  power  of  production 
had  already  been  so  greatly  developed  as  to  enable  a 
fraction  of  the  human  family  to  provide  for  the  wants 
of  all,  a  large  portion  not  being  productively  employed, 
but  either  absolutely  idle,  or  engaged  in  the  most  de- 
structive pursuits. 

In  discussing  this  matter  it  must  be  borne-  in  mind 
that  we,  like  every  other  people,  have  a  certain  amount 
of  work  to  do  —  neither  more  nor  less  ;  and  that  is,  to 
supply  ourselves  with  the  necessaries  and  comforts  of 
life  —  to  produce  of  all  that  is  useful  and  beautiful  to 
the  extent  of  our  ability  to  use  and  consume.  We 
can  not  do  less  than  that  and  prosper ;  neither  can 
any  other  people.  Nations,  like  individuals,  can  exist 
only  by  and  through  their  own  industries.  Our  peo- 
ple can  not  exist  upon  the  industries  of  any  other  so- 
ciety, and  no  other  people  can  be  permitted  to  live 
upon  us.  Every  independent  nation  can,  must,  and 
will,  if  wise,  use  its  utmost  power  to  protect  its  own 
people  in  the  work  of  providing  for  their  own  wants. 
In  view  of  these  self  evident  principles  there  can  be 
no  greater  folly  than  that  of  hoping  to  be  permitted 
to  produce  and  manufacture  for  others,  except  to  a 
very  limited  extent  and  for  short  and  most  uncertain 
periods. 

Having  the  necessity  of  providing  for  ourselves  only, 
it  follows  that  the  amount  of  work  required  to  be  done, 
whether  by  muscular  or  mechanical  force,  must  be 
measured  by  the  amount  that  will  supply  the  liberal 
use  and  consumption  of  our  own  society.  If  at  any 
time  before  the  present  century  we  were  able  to  pro- 
duce sufficient  to  supply  the  three  great  wants  of  man 


14  LAND  AND  LABOR. 

—  that  of  food,  clothing,  and  shelter  —  and  contribute 
something  to  his  love  of  luxury  and  the  beautiful  — 
and  indisputably  we  were  —  then  we  have  a  measure 
by  which  we  can  gauge  the  extent  of  the  change  that 
has  been  wrought  by  the  introduction  of  mechanical 
forces  into  the  work  of  general  production,  and  the 
effect  which  the  use  of  machinery  has  upon  the  em- 
ployment of  muscular  labor. 

It  must  also  be  borne  in  mind  that  however  great 
has  been  the  development  in  inventions  for  the  em- 
ployment of  machinery,  or  mechanical  force,  it  has  in 
every  case  been  for  the  purpose  of  doing  more  effec- 
tively, more  expeditiously,  more  extensively,  that 
which  was  done  before  — for  the  purpose  of  more  com- 
pletely or  easily  satisfying  man's  existing  wants.  No 
inventor  has  yet  succeeded  in  inventing  or  discovering 
a  new  want ;  he  can  only  minister  to  those  already 
existing,  and  all  talk  about  creating  new  wants  and 
in -w  industries  to  employ  the  unemployed  is  absurd, 
unless  we  can  steal  the  power  of  the  Infinite. 

It  necessarily  follows,  then,  that  in  exact  propor- 
tion to  the  introduction  of  mechanical  force,  or  ma- 
chinery, in  general  production,  is  the  release  or  dis- 
placement  of  muscular  labor,  unless  there  is  at  the 
same  time  a  corresponding  increase  in  the  consump- 
tion of  the  product.  But  in  those  products  where 
man's  consumption  is  confined  within  narrow  limits, 
as  in  his  three  great  wants  of  food,  clothing,  and  shel- 
ter, which  have  h<  n-tofore  been  in  great  measure  well 
plied,  an.l  which  employs  and  has  ever  employed 
at  least  nine  l.  nths  of  all  the  muscular  and  mechani- 
cal force  expended  in  general  production  and  distri- 


MACHINERY  IN  AGRICULTURE.  15 

bution,  it  will  be  readily  seen  that  though  there  has 
been  a  very  considerable  increase  of  consumption,  it 
bears  no  proportion  to  the  increase  of  production. 
This  fact  is  so  self  evident  that  it  is  clearly  stated  in 
the  Introduction  to  the  Agricultural  volume,  United 
States  Census  Reports,  1860,  page  xi,  as  follows  :  — 

"  Thus  every  machine  or  tool  which  enables  one  farm  hand 
to  do  the  work  of  two,  cheapens  the  product  of  his  labor  to  ev- 
ery consumer,  and  relieves  one  in  every  two  of  the  population 
from  the  duty  of  providing  subsistence,  enabling  him  to  engage 
in  other  pursuits,"  etc. 

The  weak  point  in  this  statement  is,  that  the  au- 
thor does  not  point  out  the  "  other  pursuits  "  that  are 
not  similarly  affected,  in  which  the  "  relieved  "  man 
may  "  engage."  No  argument  is  required  to  show 
that  where  one  man  is  enabled,  by  the  use  of  machin- 
ery, to  do  the  work  of  two,  one  is  released  or  displaced, 
and  must  find  other  employment  or  remain  idle,  be  it 
in  farm  work  or  any  other.  So,  also,  if  one  man  be- 
comes enabled  to  do  the  work  of  twenty,  nineteen  out 
of  the  twenty  are  displaced.  The  only  exception  is 
to  be  found  in  the  cases  where  a  corresponding  in- 
crease takes  place  in  the  consumption  of  the  products, 
if  there  are  any  such  cases.  Yet,  notwithstanding 
the  absolute  certainty  of  this  principle,  nothing  is 
more  common  than  to  hear  it  said  that  labor  saving 
machinery  creates  work  —  that  it  gives  more  employ- 
ment to  manual  labor,  and  throws  no  one  into  idle- 
ness. But  it  is  rare  that  this  fallacy  can  be  found  in 
print,  in  any  publication  carrying  the  least  weight  of 
authority.  Perhaps  the  most  notable  instance  in 
which  this  absurdity  has  been  broadly  stated,  with  an 


16  LAND  AND  LABOR. 

attempt  at  demonstration,  is  to  be  found  on  page 
clxiv,  of  volume  2,  Agriculture,  United  Census  Ee- 
ports  for  1860,  as  follows  :  - 

"The  first  impression  made  on  the  popular  mind,  by  any 
great  improvement  in  machinery  and  locomotion,  after  the  ad- 
mission of  their  beneficial  effects,  is  that  they  will,  in  some  way 
or  other,  diminish  the  demand  for  labor  or  for  other  machinery. 
It  is  now  established  as  a  general  principle,  that  ma- 
chines facilitating  labor  increase  the  amount  of  labor  required. 
There  was  an  idea  that  the  transportation  of  agricul- 
tural products  [by  railways]  would  result  in  diminishing  the 
number  of  horses,  wagoners,  and  steamboats The  re- 
sult, however,  proves  precisely  the  contrary.  Horses  have  mul- 
tiplied more  rapidly  since  the  introduction  of  locomotives  than 
they  did  before Three  fourths  of  all  the  miles  of  rail- 
road have  been  made  since  1850 ;  and  we  see  that  since  then 

the  increase  of  horses  has  been  the  greatest Hence  it 

seemed  that  railroads  must  diminish  the  number  and  import- 
ance of  horses,  but  such  was  not  the  fact." 

This  evidence  and  argument  are  deemed  by  those 
who  use  them  as  proofs  that  will  not  leave  a  peg  to 
hang  a  doubt  upon,  that  no  "  great  improvement  in 
machinery  or  locomotion,"  will  in  any  "way  or  other, 
diminish  the  demand  for  labor." 

Those  who  use  this  argument  have  not  yet  discov- 
<  n <l  that  the  locomotive  and  railroad  have  come  into 
competition  with  the  horse  only  on  the  great  roads 
and  routes  of  travel  and  transportation  for  long  dis- 
tances, from  which  he  has  been  undeniably  driven,  but 
leaving  him  in  undisputed  possession  of  a  thousand 
and  one  other  employments  ;  whilst  machinery  has 
come  in  direct  competition  with  manual  labor  in  every 
place  where  force  or  power  is  used,  from  the  manufac- 


MACHINERY  IN  AGRICULTURE.  17 

ture  and  adjustment  of  the  finest  watch  mechanism, 
or  dental  work  upon  the  teeth  in  the  mouth  of  the 
patient,  to  the  construction  of  the  most  stupendous 
works,  and  the  removal  of  mountains  ;  leaving  to 
muscle  no  place  without  a  swift,  untiring,  inexhaus- 
tive  competitor,  which  in  every  case  reduces  the  em- 
ployment of  manual  labor  to  an  extremely  low  point. 
Among  other  reasons  why  "  horses  have  multiplied 
more  rapidly  since  the  introduction  of  locomotives 
than  they  did  before,"  is  the  fact  that  the  locomotive 
in  taking  possession  of  the  great  roads  and  routes  of 
travel  and  transportation  for  long  distances,  has  great- 
ly increased  the  travel  and  transportation  on  the  les- 
ser and  shorter  routes  which  it,  as  yet,  has  not  been 
able  to  cover,  and  where  the  horse  must  still  do  the 
largely  increased  service  ;  and  in  the  great  increase  in 
the  business  and  wealth  of  our  cities  and  towns,  re- 
quiring a  multiplied  service  and  street  cars  drawn  by 
horses,  with  the  development  of  luxury  in  the  trading 
and  moneyed  classes  that  finds  its  expression  in  the 
use  and  cultivation  of  the  horse.  But  when  the  loco- 
motive comes  into  successful  competition  with  the 
horse  in  general  farm  work,  the  road  and  express  wag- 
on, the  street  car,  with  the  cartman,  the  pleasure  car- 
riage, the  coach,  under  the  saddle,  on  the  race  course 
—  in  every  place  where  the  power  and  force  of  the 
horse  is  now  used,  as  it  has  been  upon  the  great  roads 
and  routes  of  travel  and  transportation,  then  that  ani- 
mal may  be  cited  to  illustrate  the  effect  of  machinery 
upon  the  employment  of  muscle,  and  not  before.  So 
with  the  other  illustrations  used  in  this  connection  in 
the  Census  Keport,  and  by  others.  A  one  sided,  par- 


18  LAND  AND  LABOR. 

tial  view  of  this  matter,  which  is  the  too  common 
view,  will  not  meet  the  case. 

Thus  far  I  have  utterly  failed  to  discover  that  any 
attempt  has  ever  been  made  to  find  to  what  extent 
machinery  has  taken  the  place  of  muscle  in  any  pro- 
duction. So  prevalent  has  been  the  idea,  especially 
among  the  so  called  cultured  and  mercantile  classes, 
that  machinery  does  not  affect  the  employment  of 
manual  labor,  except,  perhaps,  to  increase  it,  that 
they  have  not  deemed  it  worthy  of  inquiry.  Even 
those  with  the  best  opportunities  of  knowing  the 
whole  case  appear  to  have  been  utterly  blind  or  indif- 
ferent. In  the  two  hundred  and  eighteen  quarto 
pages  of  introductory  matter,  in  the  volume  on  Manu- 
factures, United  States  Census  Keport  for  1860,  filled 
with  a  most  interesting  summaTy  of  developments  in 
machinery  and  manufactures  during  the  present  cen- 
tury, I  find  but  one  instance  wherein  the  slightest  in- 
timation is  given  of  the  effects  of  the  introduction  of 
any  labor  saving  machine  upon  the  manual  labor  em- 
ployed. This  may  be  found  in  the  description  of  the 
manufacture  of  paper,  on  page  cxxvi,  as  follows  :  — 

"About  the  year  1825  the  automaton  paper  machine  of  Fou- 
(Irinicr,  imported  from  England,  was  introduced  into  the  United 
States,  at  Springfield,  Massachusetts,  where  the  largest  manu- 
factory at  that  time  in  the  United  States,  that  of  D.  &  J.  Ames, 
employed  twelve  steam  engines  and  more  than  one  hundred  fe- 
males, besides  the  usual  ntimlicr  of  male  hands,  and  used  ma- 
chinery patented  l.y  them  for  making  continuous  sheets,  which 
rn.-iMcd  one  man  to  do  the  work  of  thirty." 

This  simple  statement  gives  a  clear  idea  of  the  ef- 
fect which  one  machine,  in  the  manufacture  of  paper, 


MACHINERY  IN  AGRICULTURE.  19 

had  upon  labor  nearly  sixty  years  ago  :  viz.,  that  it 
released,  or  displaced,  twenty-nine  out  of  the  thirty 
hands  then  and  there  employed,  and  compelled  those 
displaced  hands  to  find  other  employment  or  to  re- 
main idle. 

With  these  preliminary  remarks  I  will  endeavor  to 
find  what  has  been  the  actual  effect  caused  by  the  in- 
troduction and  use  of  machinery  in  general  produc- 
tion, upon  the  employment  of  manual  labor  in  our 
country,  during  the  present  century.  In  doing  this  I 
shall  confine  myself  to  a  few  of  the  special  employ- 
ments that  contribute  directly  to  the  supply  of  the 
three  great  wants  of  mankind  —  the  production  and 
distribution  of  the  principal  necessaries  of  life  —  as- 
suming that  what  is  there  found  to  be  true  may  with 
safety  be  taken  as  the  basis  for  estimating  its  effects 
in  all  other  productive  industries. 

As  agriculture  lies  at  the  base  of  human  providence 
we  will  begin  there.  Throughout  Europe  and  Ameri- 
ca, until  within  a  comparatively  recent  date,  the  im- 
plements of  the  farm  remained  extremely  primitive 
and  inefficient  in  form.  It  was  at  no  remote  period 
that  the  hoe,  in  its  crudest  shape,  and  the  spade, 
equally  clumsy,  were  the  principal  tools  for  tillage. 
Though  the  plow,  or  something  used  for  that  purpose, 
has  been  to  some  extent  in  use  from  time  immemorial, 
that  implement  as  we  now  know  it  is  a  new  tool  or 
machine.  Originally  nothing  more  than  the  branch 
or  trunk  of  a  tree,  with  its  forked  or  curved  end  sharp- 
ened to  scratch  a  furrow  for  the  seed.  Similar  plows 
are  now  in  common  use  throughout  Mexico.  Then  a 
mere  wedge  with  a  short  beam  and  straight  handle,  it 


20  LAND  AND  LABOR. 

became  in  time  fitted  with  a  movable  share  of  wood, 
stone,  copper,  or  iron,  wrought  to  an  attempted  suita- 
ble form,  as  we  find  it  in  the  hands  of  our  Saxon 
ancestors.  Afterwards  the  wooden  mold  board  was 
added,  with  various  improvements  in  shape,  which 
continued  in  use  until  near  the  present  time. 

In  England,  in  the  middle  of  the  last  century,  the 
plow  was  an  exceedingly  rude  and  cumbersome  affair 
in  comparison  with  those  now  in  common  use.  It 
was  no  infrequent  thing,  in  parts  of  the  island,  eighty 
years  ago,  to  see  from  three  to  five  horses,  in  light 
soils,  and  in  heavy  ones  as  many  as  seven,  attached  to 
a  plow  which  turned  about  three  fourths  of  an  acre  a 
day.  The  old  Scotch  plow  was  still  worse,  and  no 
instance  was  known  of  plowing  with  less  than  four 
horses.  The  usual  number  was  six,  or  four  horses 
and  two  oxen  ;  sometimes  as  many  as  ten  or  twelve 
were  yoked  to  it,  each  pair  requiring  a  driver. 

In  the  early  part  of  the  present  century  our  best 
plow,  in  general  use,  was  of  wood,  iron  shod,  large,  ill 
shaped  and  cumbersome,  drawn  by  from  one  to  six 
yoke  of  oxen,  requiring  one  and  often  two  men  to  hold 
it ;  another  to  ride  on  the  beam  to  keep  it  in  the 
ground  ;  still  another  to  keep  it  clear,  and  the  drivers 
of  the  team  —  often  four  and  sometimes  six  men,  but 
less  than  two,  to  turn  one  acre  a  day. 

About  1740  James  Small,  of  Berwickshire,  Scot- 
land, first  introduced  the  iron  mold  board,  still  using 
wr.iii^ht  imn  shares.  In  1785  Robert  Ransome,  of 
Ipswich,  introduced  cast  iron  shares.  The  making  of 
tin-  first  iron  plow  has  Ix-cn  attributed  to  William 
Allan,  a  farmer  of  Lanarkshire,  Scotland,  in  1804 ; 


MACHINERY  IN  AGRICULTURE.  21 

but  an  iron  plow  was  presented  to  the  Society  of  Arts, 
in  London,  as  early  as  1773,  by  a  Mr.  Brand.  The 
cast  iron  plow  was  introduced  soon  after. 

The  first  patent  issued  in  the  United  States  after 
the  organization  of  the  Patent  Office,  was  in  June, 
1797,  to  Charles  Newbold,  of  Burlington,  New  Jersey, 
for  a  cast  iron  plow  which  combined  the  mold  board, 
share,  and  land  side,  all  in  one  casting.  A  series  of 
improvements  in  the  cast  iron  plow  was  commenced 
about  1810,  by  Josiah  Ducher,  of  New  York,  some  of 
which  are  still  retained  in  use.  In  1814  Jethro  Wood, 
of  Scipio,  New  York,  was  granted  a  patent  for  a  cast 
iron  plow  having  the  mold  board,  share,  and  land  side 
cast  in  three  parts.  Joel  Nourse  and  his  partners,  of 
Worcester,  Massachusetts,  improved  and  perfected 
the  cast  iron  plow,  which,  to  his  time,  in  1836,  was  a 
comparatively  rude  implement. 

Now  we  have  plows  of  that  lightness  and  easy  draft 
that  one  man,  with  a  single  horse,  in  light  soils,  will 
turn  two  and  one  half  acres  in  a  day  of  ten  hours,  the 
plow  requiring  very  little  effort,  even  with  one  hand, 
to  guide  it.  Some  of  our  finest  plows  are  made  of 
polished  steel,  and  work  to  the  greatest  perfection. 
Many  in  common  use,  known  as  sulkies,  have  the  plow 
affixed  to  an  axle,  between  a  pair  of  wheels,  with  a 
comfortable  seat  above  for  the  driver  of  the  team. 
Others  have  no  land  side,  but  will  cut  and  turn  a  fur- 
row eighteen  inches  wide  in  the  most  perfect  manner. 
In  place  of  the  straight  coulter  of  our  fathers,  and 
still  in  common  use,  a  steel  disc  is  now  applied.  With 
two  horses  one  man  with  these  plows  will  break  two 
and  one  half  acres  a  day  on  the  western  prairies ;  and 


22  LAND  AND  LABOR. 

by  attaching  two  or  more  plows  to  the  axle,  forming 
what  are  known  as  gang  plows,  five  or  more  acres  a 
day  are  plowed  by  increasing  the  team.  Or  a  traction 
engine  is  used,  with  the  result  of  plowing  an  acre  or 
more  an  hour. 

It  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  in  speaking  of  the 
work  days  of  our  fathers,  or  the  period  included  in 
the  first  quarter  of  this  century,  and  for  all  time  be- 
fore, that  not  less  than  twelve,  and  more  commonly 
fifteen  or  more  hours  a  day  were  consumed  in  work, 
especially  by  the  agriculturist,  whilst  ten  to  twelve 
hours  are  now,  in  most  parts,  the  common  time. 

Thus  it  is  seen  that  in  the  work  of  plowing  one  man 
to-day,  with  a  gang  plow  that  turns  two  furrows  will 
plow  five  acres  in  a  day,  which  would  have  required, 
in  the  days  of  our  fathers,  under  the  best  conditions, 
the  labor  of  two  men  for  five  days,  and  not  unfre- 
quently  as  many  as  four  to  six  men  for  seven  days. 
Being  a  difference  of  from  one  man  now  doing  the 
work  of  ten,  up  to  one  taking  the  place  of  thirty. 
\Yith  a  three  gang  or  furrow  plow,  now  in  common 
use  with  teams,  the  difference  would  be  fifty  per  cent, 
greater.  With  the  steam  plow,  using  gangs  of  five 
or  more,  the  work  accomplished  would  be  still  more 
widely  marked.  And  more  than  this,  the  work  is  now 
done  incomparably  better  than  ever  before. 

After  the  plow  there  follows  the  harrow,  the  culti- 
>r,  and  the  roller,  to  thoroughly  pulverize  and  pre- 
pare the  soil  to  receive  the  seed.  The  harrow,  though 
an  old  tool,  has  recently  been  so  greatly  improved  as 
to  more  than  double  its  efficiency.  The  cultivator  is 
a  new  machine  and  most  effective  in  its  application. 


MACHINERY  IN  AGRICULTURE.  23 

The  roller,  which  has  been  greatly  improved,  has 
more  generally  been  brought  into  use  for  crushing  and 
pulverizing  clods  and  lumps,  and  leaving  the  ground 
smooth.  Our  best  farmers  claim  that  the  improved 
tillage  obtained  by  these  implements  increases  the 
crop  at  least  twenty-five  per  cent. 

At  the  beginning  of  the  present  century,  and  to 
within  a  quite  recent  period,  all  the  smaller  grains 
were  sown  by  hand.  The  sower  would  go  into  the 
field  with  his  seed  in  a  bag,  slung  from  his  shoulders. 
Then  filling  his  hand  from  the  bag,  "  with  measured 
tread  he  throws  the  grain  "  before  him  as  he  crosses 
the  field  from  one  side  to  the  other.  But  now  a  box 
or  trough,  eight  feet  or  more  in  length,  is  attached  to 
a  pair  of  wheels.  This  trough  being  filled  with  grain 
any  child  that  can  drive  a  horse  may  take  the  seat  on 
the  machine,  and  in  driving  from  side  to  side  of  the 
field  either  scatters  the  seed  broad  cast,  or  deposits  it, 
as  may  be  desired,  at  regular  intervals  in  little  drills 
which  it  makes.  In  this  Way  a  boy  or  girl  will  not 
only  sow  from  seven  to  ten  times  more  ground  than 
can  possibly  be  done  by  hand,  but  much  better  and 
with  great  economy  of  seed. 

In  planting  corn  our  fathers,  with  a  hoe,  would  go 
over  the  field,  making  at  regular  intervals  little  hills 
or  drills ;  he  being  followed  by  some  one,  it  might 
have  been  a  boy,  who  would  place  upon  each  hill  a 
few  grains  of  corn,  or  into  the  drill  a  kernel  at  regular 
intervals.  After  the  corn  was  thus  placed  in  hill  or 
drill  the  earth  was  drawn  over  it  with  the  hoe.  But 
now  the  corn  planter  is  used,  upon  which  a  child  may 
sit  and,  driving  a  single  horse,  will  plant  at  least  ten 


24  LAND  AND  LABOR. 

times  as  much  as  could  one  person  by  the  old  methods. 
Then,  instead  of  using  the  hoe,  as  did  our  fathers,  in 
working  their  corn,  where  a  man  found  a  long  and 
hard  day's  work  in  hoeing  half  an  acre,  a  man  or  boy 
will  now  seat  himself  upon  a  cultivator,  with  a  pair 
of  horses  before  him,  and  work  one  acre  an  hour  ;  one 
man  now  doing  with  this  implement  as  much  as  could 
be  done  by  twenty  with  hoes. 

When  the  wheat,  or  other  small  grain,  was  ripe  for 
the  harvest  our  fathers  would  go  into  the  field  with 
their  sickles  in  their  hands,  and  a  long  day  of  hard 
work  would  result  in  one  fourth  of  an  acre  of  grain 
cut  and  bound  per  man.  This  work  is  now  done  by 
machinery.  Pliny,  the  elder,  gives  a  description  of  a 
machine  for  harvesting  grain  used  by  the  Gauls.  It 
is  supposed  to  have  been  in  use  for  several  centuries. 
During  the  last  century  several  attempts  were  made 
to  construct  machines  for  reaping,  but  no  one  proved 
a  success.  Although  in  the  early  part  of  the  present 
century  cradles  had  been  to  some  extent  adopted  in 
reaping,  the  sickle  still  remained  the  common  imple- 
ment used  for  that  purpose  in  Europe  and  America. 

The  first  American  patent  for  cutting  grain  was  is- 
sued in  May,  1803,  to  Kichard  French  arid  J.  T.  Haw- 
kins, of  New  Jersey.  Samuel  Adams,  of  the  same 
State,  followed  in  1805  ;  J.  Comfort,  of  Pennsylvania, 
and  William  P.  Claiborn,  of  Virginia,  in  1811 ;  Peter 
Gaillard,  of  Pennsylvania,  in  1812,  and  Peter  Baker, 
of  New  York,  in  1814.  The  next  was  the  machine  of 
Jeremiah  Bailey,  of  Pennsylvania,  in  1822  ;  a  rotary 
mowing  machine,  having  six  scythes  attached  to  a 
shaft.  Four  other  patents  were  registered  in  1828. 


MA  CHINES  T  IN  A  QRICVL1URE.  25 

when  Samuel  Lane,  of  Hallowcll,  Maine,  patented  a 
machine  for  cutting,  gathering,  and  thrashing  grain 
at  one  operation.  One  other  machine,  that  of  Wil- 
liam Manning,  of  Plainfield,  New  Jersey,  registered  in 
1831,  and  having  several  points  of  resemblance  to 
some  now  in  use,  was  patented  previous  to  that  of 
Obed  Hussey's,  of  Cincinnati,  Ohio,  in  1833.  With 
the  Hussey  machine  grain  could  be  cut  as  fast  as 
eight  men  could  bind  it.  In  June,  1834,  Cyrus  H. 
McCormick,  of  Virginia,  received  his  first  patent  for 
cutting  grain  of  all  kinds  by  machinery.  From  that 
time  to  the  present  nearly  every  year  has  produced 
one  or  more  modifications  of  harvesting  machinery, 
among  which  may  be  mentioned  that  of  Moore  &  Has- 
kell,  of  Michigan,  in  1836,  which  cuts,  thrashes,  and 
winnows  the  grain  at  one  and  the  same  time. 

As  early  as  1860  four  horse  harvesting  machines 
would  cut  twenty  acres  of  grain  in  a  day,  leaving  it 
spread  upon  the  ground  to  be  gathered  and  bound  by 
hand.  Now  machines  are  used  that  will  cut  eighty 
acres  in  a  day  of  ten  hours,  the  team  traveling  at  the 
rate  of  three  miles  an  hour.  One  machine,  controlled 
by  one  man,  cutting  as  much  as  could  be  done  by  320 
men  with  sickles.  The  cutter  of  this  machine  is  24 
feet  long.  But  the  machines  in  common  use  in  some 
of  the  great  grain  fields  of  the  West,  having  cutters 
from  12  to  16  feet  in  length,  at  the  same  rate  of  travel, 
cut  40  to  60  acres  a  day,  one  man  now  doing  the  work 
that  required  160  to  200  about  60  years  ago.  These 
machines  are  known  as  headers,  and  cut  the  grain  in 
such  manner  as  to  take  little  more  than  the  heads, 
which  are  discharged  into  a  large  box,  known  as  the 


26  LAND  AND  LABOR 

header  box,  drawh  by  another  team.  The  box  when 
filled  being  at  once  taken  to  the  rick  and  unloaded, 
whilst  another  takes  its  place.  Other  machines,  that 
are  drawn  by  two  horses,  known  as  self  binders,  cut 
the  grain  and  bind  it  into  sheaves,  using  both  cord 
and  wire  for  the  binding,  and  throwing  the  sheaves  to 
one  side  when  bound,  are  also  in  common  use,  with 
cutters  six  and  seven  feet  in  length,  which  cut  and 
bind  15  and  20  acres  in  a  day,  and  do  the  work  of  60 
and  80  men  with  sickles. 

In  the  days  of  our  fathers  the  sheaves  of  grain  were 
stored  in  the  barns,  and  furnished  a  Winter's  work 
for  themselves,  their  boys,  and  their  men  servants,  in 
thrashing  it  with  flails.  But  now  thrashing  machines, 
driven  by  horse  or  steam  power,  thrashes,  winnows, 
and  sacks  the  grain  as  fast  as  12  to  25  men  can  feed 
the  machines,  clear  away  the  straw  and  chaff,  and 
handle  the  sacks  —  turning  out  1,000  to  1,500  bush- 
els a  day. 

In  California  the  machines  above  referred  to  that 
cut,  thrash,  and  winnow  the  grain  at  one  operation, 
are  used.  They  also  fill  the  sacks,  which  are  left 
standing  in  rows  where,  but  a  few  moments  before, 
stood  the  golden  grain  untouched,  inviting  to  its  har- 
vest. These  machines  require  four  men  in  working 
them,  and  with  cutters  20  feet  long  harvest  50  acres 
a  day.  Here  four  men,  with  the  machine  and  team, 
now  do  the  work  that  would  have  required  at  least 
300  within  the  memory  of  men  now  living. 

Down  to  within  the  last  year,  when  the  corn  was 
ready  for  harvest  men  were  sent  into  the  field  to  take 
the  ripened  ears  from  the  standing  stalk  by  hand ; 


MA  CHINER  T  IN  A  GRICULTURE.  27 

but  now  a  corn  husker  is  used.  A  machine  drawn  by 
two  horses  will  do  the  work  of  eight  men  ;  it  will 
take  one  row  at  a  time  and  husk,  gather,  and  elevate 
the  corn  into  a  wagon  as  fast  as  the  team  will  walk 
through  the  field.  It  will  gather  all  the  ears,  whether 
the  stalks  stand  up  or  are  bent  down.  It  leaves  all 
the  husks  on  the  stalk,  and  it  does  not  pull  up,  or 
cut  up,  or  break  down  the  stalks. 

After  the  corn  was  harvested  our  fathers  would  turn 
a  shovel  upside  down  over  a  box,  sit  on  it,  and  draw- 
ing the  ears  with  force  and  vigor  across  its  edge,  would 
shell  at  most  twenty  bushels  in  a  long  day ;  but  far 
more  commonly  not  more  than  five,  and  hard  work  it 
was.  Now  two  men  will  take  the  ordinary  improved 
corn  sheller  and  shell  24  bushels  in  an  hour,  or  240 
bushels  in  a  short  day.  Leaving  out  of  the  account 
the  difference  in  the  length  of  the  days  worked,  this 
shows  that  six  times  as  much  is  now  done  with  this 
machine  as  our  fathers  could  do  by  the  old  methods. 
With  the  three  classes  of  horse  power  machines  four 
men  will  shell  1,500,  2,000,  and  3,000  bushels  respec- 
tively per  day  of  ten  hours  ;  one  man  and  machine 
now  doing  the  work  of  75,  100,  and  150  men,  respec- 
tively, when  without  machinery. 

Our  fathers,  when  they  wanted  their  wheat  con- 
verted into  flour  or  their  corn  into  meal,  would  take 
it  to  the  neighboring  mill,  generally  having  one  run 
of  stones,  rarely  more  than  two,  where  everything  was 
handled  and  moved  by  muscular  force,  requiring  from 
one  to  three  men  in  each  mill,  and  turning  out  what 
might  amount  to  from  ten  to  thirty  barrels  of  flour 
a  day,  paying  for  the  service  rendered  in  a  toll  of 


28  LAND  AND  LABOR. 

about  one  eighth  or  tenth.  Now  the  grain  is  sold  and 
converted  into  flour  in  mills  that  will  count  their  runs 
of  stones  or  rolls  by  scores  or  hundreds,  and  their 
daily  yield  by  thousands  of  barrels,  but  requiring  no 
more  men  in  the  operations  of  flouring  than  did  the 
mill  of  our  fathers  when  the  yield  was  but  thirty  bar- 
rels a  day.  Now  the  mills  do  their  work  without  the 
assistance  of  man,  except  as  a  watcher.  At  night  the 
mill  may  be,  and  usually  is,  locked  up,  dark,  and 
lonely,  except  for  the  watchman  and  his  lantern,  but 
runs  on  and  grinds  out  its  flour  by  hundreds  and 
thousands  of  barrels  a  night. 

In  our  important  hay  crop  the  machine  mower  is 
first  put  in,  one  man  with  team  cutting  as  much  grass 
as  could  twelve  men  with  scythes.  Then  follows  the 
tedder  with  a  man  and  horse  to  scatter  and  turn  it, 
to  facilitate  its  drying,  doing  the  work  of  twenty  men 
with  the  hand  fork,  and  so  much  better  as  to  reduce 
the  time  between  the  cutting  and  housing  at  least 
twenty-four  hours.  Then  comes  the  horse  rake,  rak- 
ing twenty  acres  a  day,  while  a  man  with  the  ordinary 
hand  rake  can  rake  but  two.  Here  the  machine  and 
man  do  the  work  of  twelve,  twenty,  and  ten  men  re- 
spectively, with  the  old  appliances. 

And  machinery  digs  the  potatoes,  milks  the  cows, 
and  makes  the  butter  and  the  cheese.  There  is  now 
nothing  in  food  production  without  its  labor  saving 
process. 

In  all  these  agricultural  operations  there  is  a  dis- 
placement of  labor  by  invention  of  machines  and  their 
improvement  of  from  one  doinjj  the  work  of  seven  in 
sowing  grain,  to  twenty-four  in  plowing,  and  three 


MACHINERY  IN  AGRICULTURE.  29 

hundred  and  twenty  in  cutting  the  grain  at  harvest, 
according  to  the  kind  of  work  done  and  the  class  of 
machinery  used  for  the  particular  operation. 

Scarcely  less  effective,  in  the  aggregate,  are  the  nu- 
merous minor  inventions  whereby  the  labor  of  the 
farm  and  the  household  have  been  saved.  Imple- 
ments of  this  kind  make  a  large  portion  of  the  stock 
in  trade  of  the  makers  and  venders  of  agricultural 
wares. 

Our  fathers,  with  all  their  boys  and  men  servants, 
had  a  full  Winter's  work  in  thrashing  their  wheat  and 
other  small  grain,  in  shelling  their  corn,  etc.,  .and  in 
getting  their  small  products  to  mill  or  market.  But 
now,  after  machinery  has  done  its  work  in  the  field 
and  barn  the  iron  horse  drags  the  product  over  its 
roads  of  steel,  for  hundreds  and  thousands  of  miles,  at 
less  cost  and  in  less  time  than  it  took  our  fathers  to 
transport  the  same  to  distances  not  greater  than  fifty 
miles.  Upon  those  roads  where  formerly  hundreds 
and  thousands  of  men  and  teams  were  constantly  em- 
ployed in  hauling  products  to  market  and  goods  to 
the  country  nowhere  now  is  a  man  or  team  so  em- 
ployed. Men  and  animals  are  released  from  that  la- 
bor ;  new  forces  have  taken  up  the  work,  guided  and 
controlled  by  comparatively  few  minds  and  hands. 
Even  our  cattle  and  hogs  are  no  longer  required  to 
walk  to  the  shambles  ;  the  iron  horse  takes  them  to 
the  butcher ;  labor  saving  processes  slaughter  them, 
dress  them,  prepare  their  flesh  for  the  market,  for  the 
table,  and  stop  only  at  mastication,  deglutition,  and 
digestion. 

To-day  one  man  with  the  aid  of  machinery  will 


30  LAND  AND  LABOR. 

produce  as  much  food  as  could  be  raised  by  the 
naked  muscle  and  tools  of  a  score  of  our  fathers. 
There  is  now  no  known  limit  to  the  power  of  its  pro- 
duction. In  consumption  there  is  no  corresponding 
increase.  Our  fathers  required,  obtained,  and  used  as 
many  ounces  of  food  per  day  as  we  do.  It  might 
have  been  different  in  kind  and  quality  —  nothing 
more. 

Not  long  ago  the  farm  found  constant  employment 
for  all  its  sons,  and  also  for  many  of  the  children  of 
the  city.  But  now  it  furnishes  work  for  but  a  very 
small  portion  of  its  own  children,  and  that  for  a  few 
weeks  or  months  at  most  in  the  year,  and  for  the  re- 
mainder of  the  twelve  months  employment  must  be 
had  in  the  cities  and  towns,  or  not  at  all.  Here  we 
find  the  true  reason  for  stagnation  in  the  population 
of  the  older  agricultural  sections,  and  abnormal  growth 
and  crowding  of  the  cities. 

The  use  of  machinery  in  general  manufactures,  and 
especially  of  textiles,  has  had  an  equally  potent  effect 
upon  the  daughters  of  the  farm,  in  compelling  them, 
also,  to  seek  employment  in  the  manufacturing  towns 
and  cities,  because  there  was  no  longer  work  to  be 
found  under  the  old  roof  tree,  as  will  be  here  shown. 

The  great  revolution  that  has  been  effected  in  our 
industrial  and  social  conditions,  by  the  use  of  machin- 
ery and  labor  saving  processes  in  general  production, 
to  the  exclusion,  in  great  part,  of  manual  labor,  may, 
perhaps,  be  best  seen  by  the  changes  that  have  been 
wrought  within  a  few  years  in  all  that  relates  to  our 
farming  interests.  For  which  see  next  chapter,  on 
the  "  Bonanza  Farms." 


. 


CHAPTER  II. 

THE  BONANZA   FARMS. 

[The  matter  which  forms  this  chapter  was  written  by  the  author  of  this  volume 
for  the  Atlantic  Monthly  of  January,  1880.  It  is  here  reproduced,  with  some  ad- 
ditions, for  the  reason  that  it  gives  a  clear  account  of  the  methods  pursued  in  a 
system  of  agriculture  that  is  monopolizing  the  lands,  developing  a  system  of 
monster  estates,  swallowing  up  the  small  holdings  of  the  people,  and  undermin- 
ing and  destroying  the  small  farm  interests  of  the  country.] 

"YTTITHIN  the  past  year  or  two  a  new  develop- 
V  V  merit  in  agriculture,  in  the  great  Northwest, 
has  forced  itself  upon  the  public  attention,  that  would 
seem  destined  to  exercise  a  most  potent  influence  on 
the  production  of  a]]  food  products,  and  work  a  revo- 
lution in  the  great  economies  of  the  farm.  But  not 
enough  is  known  of  this  new  development  to  enable 
one  to  form  any  just  estimate  of  either  its  force  or 
extent.  For  the  purpose  of  obtaining  the  data  neces- 
sary to  assist  to  a  more  correct  understanding  of 
the  operations  of  what  are  known  as  the  "  Bonanza 
Farms/'  and  their  present  and  probable  future  effects, 
the  writer  went  upon  the  ground  to  make  them  a 
study. 

On  reaching  St.  Paul  I  visited  the  Land  Office  of 
the  St.  Paul  and  Sioux  City  Railroad,  to  gather  some 
facts  in  regard  to  Southern  Minnesota.  The  Land 
Commissioner,  James  H.  Drake,  Esq.,  learning  of  the 
purpose  of  my  tour  in  the  Northwest,  expressed  a 


32  LAND  AND  LABOR. 

i 
/ 

strong  desire  that  I:7  should  go  over  their  road,  visit 
some  of  the  greaj  iarms  in  its  neighborhood,  and  see 
for  myself.  H$  spoke  enthusiastically  of  the  country, 
and  particularly  of  the  rare  opportunities  there  pre- 
sented for/the  investment  of  capital  in  agriculture  as 
a  first  {ftass  financial  operation  ;  and  also  of  the  gen- 
eraly^nd  particular  attention  that  great  capitalists  were 
/giving  to  the  matter,  especially  upon  the  line  of  that 
road,  and  mentioned  a  large  number  who  had  already 
embarked  in  the  enterprise,  and  of  others  who  had 
purchased  lands  with  that  object.  I  desired  him  to 
give  me  a  list  of  some  of  the  names  mentioned,  to 
which  he  at  once  responded  with  the  following  memo- 
randum:— 

"Thompson  &  Kendall  farm,  about  7,000  acres.  The  Rock 
County  farm,  near  Luverne,  Thompson  &  Warner,  50,000  acres, 
of  which  about  6,000  acres  are  under  cultivation.  President 
Drake,  of  St.  Paul  and  Sioux  City  Railroad,  has  numerous  farms, 
with  tenants  working  on  shares.  General  Bishop,  manager  of 
railroad,  has  3,200  acres  under  cultivation.  George  I.  Seney, 
President  Metropolitan  Bank,  New  York  City,  has  2,000  acres 
under  cultivation,  near  Sheldon,  Iowa.  A.  E.  Orr,  of  David 
Dows  &  Co.,  New  York,  has  a  large  farm  on  the  line,  and 
Goldsmidt,  the  great  German  banker,  Frankfort-on-the-Main, 
has  several  large  farms.  President  Drake's  son,  and  Horace 
Thompson's  son,  are  each  managing  large  farms,  and  every 
director  in  the  organization  has  his  large  farm  with  tenants 
cultivating  the  soil." 

Commissioner  Drake  also  placed  in  my  hands  a  cir- 
cular in  which  he  endeavors  to  prove  to  the  capitalist 
that  investments  made  in  the  lands  of  that  road,  ;it 
current  prices,  and  cultivated  in  wheat  and  other 
crops,  will  pay  twenty  per  cent,  upon  the  whole  in- 


TUB  BONANZA  FARMS.  33 

vestment  the  first  year,  and  fifty-five  per  cent,  the 
second. 

As  that  was  just  what  I  wanted  to  see  and  be  con- 
vinced of,  if  it  could  be  done,  I  gladly  accepted  his  in- 
vitation and  took  a  trip  upon  that  road  to  the  points 
he  designated,  and  some  others.  After  running  about 
seventy-five  miles,  on  the  borders  of  a  well  wooded 
stream,  we  emerged  upon  an  open,  treeless,  rolling 
prairie,  not  unlike  the  prairies  of  Kansas  ;  thence,  to 
Windom,  seventy-two  miles  further,  was  a  succession 
of  prairie  billows,  with  an  occasional  lakelet  and  some 
dozen  apparently  flourishing  towns. 

At  Windom  I  found  the  proprietor  of  the  Clark 
House  ready  to  receive  me  and  show  several  of  the 
large  forms  and  the  country  in  his  neighborhood. 
Mr.  Clark,  a  native  of  Massachusetts,  and  there  a 
resident  until  within  a  few  years,  himself  owned  sev- 
eral hundred  acres  of  land,  and  was  having  it  culti- 
vated, mostly  in  wheat,  by  contract. 

The  next  morning  after  my  arrival  we  visited  the 
farm  of  Richard  Barden,  Esq.,  about  six  miles  to  the 
eastward  of  Windom.  Mr.  Barden  is  a  well  known 
and  prominent  grain  dealer,  residing  in  St.  Paul. 
But  we  had  the  good  fortune  to  meet  him  on  the 
place.  He  has  2,100  acres  of  land,  1,200  of  which  are 
in  wheat,  with  a  small  amount  in  oats  and  corn.  The 
work  of  the  farm  is  done  by  monthly  labor,  under  the 
direction  of  a  superintendent.  On  the  place  is  one 
small  neat  one  story  house,  the  residence  of  the  super- 
intendent, and  two  large  barns  and  a  long  shed.  The 
farm  is  stocked  with  a  small  herd  of  about  twenty-five 
very  fine  short  horned  cows  and  two  bulls,  and  a  stud 


34  LAND  AND  LABOR. 

of  about  twenty  highbred  mares  and  horses.  At  the 
time  of  our  visit  an  artist  was  engaged  in  sketching 
the  stock  for  the  purpose  of  publishing  an  illustrated 
catalogue.  There  is  but  a  small  amount  of  fencing 
on  the  place,  the  law  in  Minnesota,  as  in  most  of 
Kansas,  allowing  the  fence  question  to  be  decided  by 
the  various  districts. 

About  three  miles  to  the  south  of  Mr.  Barden's 
place  is  the  farm  of  Messrs.  Thompson  &  Shumrnier, 
of  1,300  acres,  with  300  acres  in  wheat.  On  the  place 
is  a  fine  two  story  double  house,  of  wood,  occupied  by 
the  proprietors.  They  are  young  men  without  fami- 
lies, and  sons  of  well  known  capitalists  in  St.  Paul. 
There  is  also  a  fine  barn  and  other  improvements  pro- 
jected. The  place  is  well  stocked,  and  has  a  small 
number  of  sheep.  A  good  part  of  the  work  is  done 
by  the  proprietors,  assisted  by  other  labor  in  the  most 
busy  seasons. 

We  next  visited  the  farm  of  Thompson  &  Kendall, 
about  eight  miles  west  of  Windom,  and  were  received 
by  Mr.  Kendall.  The  farm  contains  4,400  acres,  of 
which  1,600  are  in  wheat,  245  in  oats,  265  in  barley, 
235  in  flax,  150  in  buckwheat,  40  in  turnips,  and  40 
in  sundries  :  —  total,  2,575  acres.  On  the  place  is  a 
neat  one  story  white  cottage  house,  the  residence  of 
Mr.  Kendall  and  family ;  also,  a  large  two  story 
wooden  house  for  boarding  the  farm  hands,  offices, 
etc. ;  two  large  bams  ;  ice  house  with  ninety  tons  of 
ice ;  four  tenement  houses  of  one  story,  on  portions 
of  the  farm  that  have  been  leased  on  shares,  which  will 
be  discontinued  so  soon  as  the  leases  are  out ;  a  com 
crib,  twonty  by  one  hundred  feet,  with  piggery  under- 


THE  BONANZA  FARMS.  35 

neath  ;  two  vegetable  houses  to  contain  three  thou- 
sand bushels,  with  other  large  barns,  smaller  build- 
ings, sheds,  and  sheep  pens  in  process  of  construction. 

It  is  stocked  with  eighty-four  head  of  cattle,  a 
part  being  good  short  horns  ;  sixty-two  horses,  most- 
ly mares  ;  one  hundred  and  forty  hogs,  and  two  hun- 
dred and  forty  sheep,  to  be  increased  before  winter  to 
two  thousand,  and  about  one  thousand  fowls. 

At  the  time  of  our  visit,  July  9th,  fifteen  men  were 
employed.  During  harvest  it  was  expected  that  the 
number  would  be  increased  to  about  eighty.  The 
average  number  employed  during  the  year  is  about 
thirty-five,  at  an  average  cost  of  about  $17  per  month, 
their  board  costing  $4  50  per  month. 

The  average  yield  of  wheat,  in  good  seasons,  is  not 
less  than  20  bushels  per  acre ;  this  year  12  bushels 
only  are  expected.  Last  year  the  No.  1  wheat  was 
worth,  on  the  farm,  70  cents  ;  No.  4,  40  cents.  (Last 
year,  owing  to  heavy  and  unseasonable  rains,  alternat- 
ing with  hot  days,  much  of  the  wheat  was  blasted  in 
Southern  Minnesota,  and  marked  as  No.  4.)  Oats 
and  barley  promised  well.  Some  of  the  fields  of  oats 
were  estimated  as  high  as  70  bushels,  and  barley  50 
bushels  to  the  acre.  All  but  the  wheat  looked  re- 
markably well.  The  large  amount  of  flax  here  grow- 
ing, as  well  as  in  other  places,  was  solely  for  seed  and 
the  oil.  The  fiber,  which  appeared  to  be  long  and 
excellent,  was  put  to  no  use. 

In  harvesting  the  grain  fourteen  self  binders  will 
be  used,  each  cutting  a  swa^th  of  six  and  one  quarter 
feet  and  fifteen  acres  a  day.  Mr.  Kendall  gave  me 
the  following  copy  of  a  carefully  made  up  detail  state- 
ment of  the  cost  per  acre  of  wheat  growing  :  — 


36  LAND  AND  LABOR. 

ESTIMATE   FOB   RAISING   WHEAT,   FURNISHING   EVERYTHING. 

8    cts.  ma. 
Plowing,  2|  acres  per  day,  $20  per  month  wages,  77c. 

per  day,  per  acre,  31 

Interest  on  team,  $375 ;  harness,  $25 ;  plow,  $50 ;  to- 
tal, $450,  per  acre,  02  2 
Wear  and  tear,  25  per  cent  on  outfit,  11  2 
Board,  man  per  day,  20  cents ;  team  45  cents,  per  acre,      26 
Stable  men's  labor  and  board,  per  acre,  20 
(Stable  men,  wear  and  tear,  and  interest  on  team  and 

harness,  for  one  year  included.) 
Sowing,  35  acres  per  day,  wages  $20  per  month,  77c. 

per  day,  02  2 

Board,  man,  20c. ;  team,  45c.  per  day,  per  acre,  01  9 

Wear  and  tear  on  seeder,  25  per  cent.,  per  acre,  03  9 

Interest,  at  10  per  cent,  2 

Harvesting  (wire  or  cord  binders),  for  wire  or  cord,  50 

15  acres  per  day,  wages  $20  per  month,  77c.  per  day, 

per  acre,  05  1 

Board  of  man,  25c. ;  team,  50c.  per  day,  per  acre,  05 

Interest  on  reaper,  $250,  at  10  per  cent.,  150  acres  per 

machine,  per  acre,  16 

Wear  and  tear  on  reaper,  at  25  per  cent,  $62  50,  150 

acres  per  machine,  per  acre,  41  6 

Shocking  man,  77c.  per  day,  10  acres  per  day,  and 

board  at  25c.,  per  acre,  10  2 

Thrashing,  25  men  at  $2  per  day,  40  acres,  per  acre,      1  25 
Board,  25  men  at  25c.  a  day,  40  acres,  per  acre,  15  6 

Intnvst  and  wear  and  tear  on  thrasher  and  engine,  per 

acre,  10 

Marketing  man,  77c.,  board  20c.,  board  team,  45c.,  40 

acres  per  day,  per  acre,  32  5 

Freight,  13c.,  at  20  bushels  per  acre,  2  60 

Incidentals,  including  interest  and  wear  and  tear  on 

permanent  investment,  py  acre,  2  00 

Total  cost  per  acre,  $8  69  6 


THE  BONANZA  FARMS.  37 

This  estimate  makes  the  cost  of  an  acre  of  wheat, 
yielding  20  bushels,  placed  in  Chicago,  with  an  allow- 
ance of  10  per  cent,  interest  on  the  whole  investment 
for  land,  improvements,  machinery,  tools,  and  stock,' 
and  also  of  25  per  cent,  for  wear  and  tear  of  stock, 
tools,  and  machinery,  and  also  of  allowance  for  inci- 
dentals, to  be  $8  69  6,  not  including  seed.  Allow- 
ing $1  00  for  seed  will  make  the  cost  of  one  acre  of 
wheat,  yielding  20  bushels,  laid  down  in  Chicago,  and 
paying  an  interest,  or  profit,  of  10  per  cent,  on  the  en- 
tire investment,  and  25  per  cent,  for  wear  and  tear, 
etc.,  to  be  $9  70,  or  48  cents  a  bushel.  Wheat  at  85 
cents  a  bushel  would  give  an  additional  or  extraordi- 
nary profit  of  37  cents  a  bushel,  or  $7  40  per  acre, 
over  and  above  the  10  per  cent,  included  in  the  $9  70 
of  ordinary  cost  as  shown  in  the  above  statement.  At 
this  rate  the  extraordinary  profit  of  $7  40  per  acre  on 
the  1,600  acres  of  wheat  on  the  farm,  over  and  above 
the  ordinary  profit  of  10  per  cent,  on  the  entire  in- 
vestment, would  be  $11,840. 

But  given  the  entire  outfit  of  farm,  stock,  and  tools, 
and  putting  the  cost  for  wages  and  board  for  all  work, 
except  thrashing,  at  $20  a  month,  and  thrashing  at 
$2  a  day,  the  cost  of  plowing,  per  acre  was  31  cents  ; 
sowing,  3  cents  ;  harvesting,  65  cents  ;  and  thrashing, 
$1  25  :  total,  $2  24  per  acre.  Adding  seed  at  $1  per 
acre  would  give  the  total  cost  of  wheat  growing  at 
$3  24  per  acre,  or  a  little  less  than  21  cents  per  bush- 
el, on  16  bushels  to  the  acre,  which  is  the  general  av- 
erage for  that  State.  Valuing  the  wheat  at  70  cents 
a  bushel,  on  the  farm,  would  give  a  profit  of  49  cents 
a  bushel  or  $7  84  an  acre,  or  $12,544  for  the  1,600 


38  LAND  AND  LABOR. 

acres  of  wheat.  By  either  calculation  it  is  seen  that 
Commissioner  Drake's  estimate  of  55  per  cent,  per 
annum  profit  is  largely  within  the  true  figure,  as  the 
appreciation  in  the  value  of  the  land  would  much 
more  than  repay  the  expenditure  for  improvements  on 
it.  With  20  bushels  to  the  acre  the  profit  would  be 
$17,216,  and  with  12  bushels  to  the  acre,  the  amount 
expected  this  year,  the  profit  would  be  $8,256.  The 
total  value  of  1,600  acres  of  wheat,  at  70  cents  per 
bushel,  and  16  bushels  to  the  acre,  is  $17,920. 

These  being  the  results  of  actual  operations  Com- 
missioner Drake's  enthusiasm  appears  to  be  thorough- 
ly justified. 

From  Windom  to  Sioux  Falls,  ninety-two  miles, 
was  through  a  country  of  remarkable  beauty,  with 
the  land  rolling  in  long  and  gentle  billows  covered 
with  fine  grasses,  dotted  in  wide  distances  with  the 
little  improvements  and  shanties  of  the  small  farmers. 
Occasionally  were  seen  the  broad  fields  and  large  im- 
provements of  the  great  agricultural  adventurers,  and 
numbers  of  small  towns  on  the  line  of  the  road.  On 
my  return  I  stopped  at  Luverne,  two  hundred  and 
eleven  miles  from  St.  Paul,  and  made  my  way  to  the 
bluff  to  the  north,  which  proved  to  be  about  three 
miles  distant.  From  the  edge  of  its  sharp  sides  was 
presented  a  magnificent  stretch  of  beautiful  country 
which,  from  my  point  of  view,  appeared  to  be  without 
swell  or  billow  of  any  kind,  except  upon  the  eastern 
side  of  the  valley,  where  there  was  a  gentle  rise  to  an 
apparently  interminable  plain.  In  this  vast  stretch 
the  sj.arsity  of  population  was  very  noticeable.  Some 
five  miles  to  the  southeast  were  distinctly  seen  the 


THE  BONANZA  FARMS.  39 

farm  buildings  of  the  Rock  County  Farm,  one  of  my 
objective  points. 

The  next  morning  I  drove  to  the  farm  of  the  Rock 
County  Farming  Company.  It  is  incorporated  and 
composed  of  Messrs.  Thompson,  Blakely,  and  Warner, 
well  known  capitalists  of  St.  Paul.  I  was  received 
by  the  superintendent,  who  drove  me  over  the  place 
and  gave  such  information  as  was  desired.  The  farm 
contains  21,000  acres,  of  which  4,625  are  now  under 
cultivation,  with  a  large  amount  of  land  newly  broken 
that  will  be  seeded  for  next  year's  crop.  Of  this 
amount  3,251  acres  are  in  wheat ;  312  acres  in  flax  ; 
550  acres  in  oats  ;  312  acres  in  barley ;  and  200  in 
corn.  There  are  96  horses  and  mules,  26  harvesters,  3 
straw  burning  steam  thrashers,  and  other  farming  im- 
plements to  the  total  value  of  $15,000.  On  the  place 
are  two  stations,  about  two  miles  apart,  each  having 
one  house  and  two  large  barns,  and  other  buildings 
for  the  care  of  tools,  stock,  etc.  The  house  at  Station 
One  is  of  wood,  two  stories,  double,  painted  white,  and 
lathed  and  plastered,  containing  the  office  of  the  su- 
perintendent and  boarding  accommodation  for  a  large 
number  of  men.  At  Station  Two  the  house  is  smaller, 
of  one  and  a  half  stories,  painted  brown,  without  lath 
or  plaster,  and  fitted  up  specially  as  a  boarding  house 
for  the  farm  hands.  The  farm  is  immediately  on  the 
line  of  the  railroad  and  has  two  railroad  stations. 

The  number  of  men  employed  is,  for  the  month  of  \ 
March,  20  ;  April  and  May,  56  ;  June  to  July  20th, 
40  ;  July  21st  to  August  20th,  115  ;  August  21st  to 
November  15th,  70 ;  November  16th  to  the  end  of 
February,  12.    The  average  wages  are  $18  a  month. 


40  LAND  AND  LABOR. 

In  going  over  the  farm  I  had  an  excellent  opportu- 
nity to  observe  the  difference  between  good  and  bad 
cultivation.  In  some  of  the  fields  a  portion  of  the 
wheat  looked  well,  and  would  in  all  probability  yield 
eighteen  to  twenty-two  bushels  to  the  acre  ;  whilst 
the  other  portion  was  short,  thin,  choked  with  weeds, 
and  would  not  yield  more  than  ten  bushels.  One  part 
had  been  well  plowed,  harrowed,  and  seeded,  showing 
wheat  without  weeds,  of  fine  growth  and  good  stand. 
There  can  be  no  doubt  that  much  of  the  partial  as 
well  as  total  failures  that  I  observed  might  have  been 
very  much  lessened,  if  not  altogether  averted,  by  bet- 
ter cultivation.  Here,  as  in  other  places,  the  corn, 
oats,  and  barley  gave  better  promise  than  the  wheat, 
though  some  of  the  wheat  fields  had  a  very  good  ap- 
pearance. In  a  number  of  places  there  were  gangs 
of  a  dozen  or  more  plows  engaged  in  breaking  new 
ground  for  next  year's  crop.  Each  plow  was  of  the 
sulky  pattern,  with  disc  coulter,  drawn  by  three  mules 
or  horses,  the  driver  occupying  a  seat  between  the 
wheels.  One  of  the  plows  was  of  a  new  pattern,  be- 
ing without  a  landside,  and  cutting  a  sixteen  inch 
furrow  four  and  a  half  inches  deep,  which  it  cut  and 
turned  more  beautifully  than  any  I  had  before  seen. 

On  this  farm,  and  at  other  points  on  this  road, 
grasshoppers  were  doing  some  damage.  Earlier  in 
the  season  the  superintendent  had  made  a  raid  upon 
tin -in.  and  showed  me  some  heaps  of  a  black  mass, 
which  he  said  were  fifty-six  bushels  of  that  insect 
]•  la^uc  which  In-  had  caught  in  a  tar  machinp,  from 
UK;  side  of  one  quarter  section. 

Everywhere  fruit  growing  appeared  to  be    alto- 


THE  BONANZA  FARMS.  41 

gether  neglected,  and  vegetable  gardens  and  poultry 
were  scarce. 

I  was  informed  that  the  large  farmers  on  the  road 
obtained  special  rates  for  their  transportation,  and 
that  those  rates  were  fifty  per  cent,  below  the  rates 
charged  to  the  small  farmers  ;  and  that  their  farming 
implements  were  obtained  at  thirty-three  and  one- 
third  per  cent,  discount  from  published  prices,  which 
the  small  formers  were  compelled  to  pay. 

The  buildings  of  some  of  the  small  farmers  who 
have  been  there  located  for  some  four  or  five  years,  or 
more,  had  a  quite  comfortable  appearance  ;  but  the 
new  settlers  were  generally  without  a  sign  of  comfort. 
So  far  as  I  could  learn,  in  conversation  with  them  and 
upon  inquiry,  there  was  the  same  distress  that  I  had 
found  in  Kansas  and  other  places.  In  speaking  of 
this  matter  with  the  superintendent  of  the  Kock 
County  farm,  he  told  me  of  an  incident  in  his  farm 
business  that  illustrated  their  poverty.  Having  occa- 
sion to  find  board  for  some  of  his  men  who  were  at 
work  at  a  distance  too  far  from  either  station  to  be 
there  boarded,  he  made  application  to  one  of  the  small 
farmers  in  the  neighborhood,  who  had  a  comfortable 
appearance,  to  board  the  men.  Yes,  he  would  be  glad 
to  do  it ;  but  before  he  took  them  he  must  get  some 
wood,  as  he  had  none  ;  he  had  not  more  than  enough 
flour  for  one  day,  nor  had  he  groceries,  and  the  store- 
keepers would  not  give  him  credit.  The  superinten- 
dent then  applied  to  another  farmer  who  had  wood, 
and  flour  enough  to  last  for  a  few  days,  but  neither 
coffee,  tea,  sugar,  lard,  nor  other  groceries,  and  the 
traders  also  refused  to  credit  him.  But  the  superiu- 


42  LAND  AND  LABOR. 

tendent  supplied  the  fanner  with  what  he  needed 
and  sent  the  men  to  him.  In  town  I  was  informed 
that  the  small  farmers  were  generally  hopelessly  in 
deht ;  and  so  I  was  told  by  some  of  the  farmers. 

Flour  was  selling  in  the  towns  at  seven  dollars  per 
barrel.  I  did  not  anywhere  along  the  road  notice  any 
flouring  mills. 

The  valley  of  the  Red  River  of  the  North  in  the 
northern  part  of  Dakota  and  southern  portion  of 
Manitoba  is  about  three  hundred  and  fifty  miles  in 
length,  north  and  south,  and  sixty  miles  wide,  east 
and  west,  of  unsurpassed  fertility  and  beauty.  The 
surface  is  nearly  level,  with  hardly  sufficient  dip  to 
afford  to  all  parts  a  thorough  drainage,  on  which  ac- 
count some  portions  of  its  area  are  unfit  for  cultiva- 
tion without  artificial  drainage.  But  much  the  larger 
portion  is  well  drained  by  the  smaller  water  courses 
that  empty  into  the  Red  River,  giving  large  bodies 
of  rich  vegetable  and  alluvial  loam  well  adapted  to 
the  growth  of  wheat,  rye,  barley,  oats  and  the  vegeta- 
bles grown  in  the  northern  States.  But  it  is  too  far 
north  for  corn.  The  wetter  portions  of  the  valley  af- 
ford abundant  grass,  which  is  used  for  feeding  and  cut 
for  hay.  It  is  claimed  that  the  capabilities  of  this 
valley  are  equal  to  the  present  wheat  production  of 
the  whole  United  States.  The  Northern  Pacific  Rail- 
road crosses  the  valley  at  Fargo,  which  lies  upon  the 
west  side  of  the  river,  and  about  fifty  miles  above  its 
southern  end,  and  holds  a  land  grant  of  forty  miles 
on  each  side  of  its  track.  The  St.  Paul  and  Pacific 
road  traverses  the  valley  from  south  to  north,  about 
ten  miles  to  the  east  of  the  river. 


THE  BONANZA  FARMS.  43 

The  failure  of  Jay  Cooke  &  Co.,  in  1873,  had  the 
effect  of  throwing  large  bodies  of  the  lands  belonging 
to  the  Northern  Pacific  road  into  the  hands  of  the 
holders  of  its  securities  ;  among  them  were  the  owners 
of  some  of  the  farms  hereafter  described. 

Oliver  Dalrymple,  of  St.  Paul,  the  pioneer  in  the 
great  farm  development  in  this  country  in  the  North- 
west, began  his  first  operation  seventeen  years  ago,  in 
Minnesota,  near  St.  Paul,  where,  for  a  number  of 
years,  he  successfully  cultivated  a  farm  of  2,500  acres. 
At  the  time  he  commenced  his  work  near  St.  Paul,  in 
1866,  he  paid  $2  00  a  bushel  for  his  seed  wheat, 
and  sold  his  crop  for  $1  83 ;  from  his  first  crop  pay- 
ing for  the  whole  investment  and  leaving  a  large  sur- 
plus. After  the  Northern  Pacific  lands  had  passed 
into  individual  hands,  as  above  referred  to,  Mr.  Dal- 
rymple entered  into  an  arrangement  with  some  of  the 
holders,  by  which  he  was  to  undertake  the  manage- 
ment of  their  lands  in  the  growing  of  wheat  and  other 
products.  The  proprietors  of  the  lands  to  furnish 
land,  stock,  tools,  and  the  capital  required  for  seed, 
labor,  and  improvements,  upon  condition  that  when 
the  products  of  the  farms  had  paid  all  expenditures, 
with  an  agreed  interest,  he  was  to  receive  a  clear  title 
of  one  half  of  each  farm  with  its  stock  and  improve- 
ments. 

In  the  spring  of  1876  he  commenced  his  operations 
near  Castleton,  upon  what  are  now  known  as  the  'Cass 
farm,  of  6,355  acres  ;  and  the  Cheney  farm,  of  5,200 
acres.  The  following  year  work  was  begun  on  what 
is  known  as  the  Grandin  farm,  at  Grandin,  of  40,000 
acres.  Subsequently  Mr.  Dalrymple  obtained,  in  his 


44  LAND  AND  LABOR. 

own  right,  the  Alton  farm,  of  4,000  acres,  adjoining 
the  Cass  farm. 

On  arriving  at  Fargo,  July  12th,  I  at  once  at- 
tempted to  find  Mr.  Dalrymple  at  his  office  in  that 
town,  but  did  not  succeed,  he  being  at  Castleton. 
Most  fortunately  I  encountered  Mr.  J.  L.  Grandin, 
who  at  once  cordially  invited  me  to  a  seat  in  his  car- 
riage and  a  visit  to  his  farm,  at  Grandin,  thirty-six 
miles  to  the  north  of  Fargo.  I  gladly  accepted  the 
invitation,  leaving  that  town  about  4  P.M.  and  arriving 
at  the  farm  at  about  10  that  night.  During  the  con- 
tinuance of  daylight  my  attention  was  fully  engrossed 
by  the  beauty  of  the  valley  and  the  large  fields  of  wheat 
and  oats,  standing  three  to  four  feet  high,  with  their 
heads  level  as  a  house  floor.  After  the  sun  went  down 
the  mosquitoes  had  my  undivided  attention. 

That  portion  of  the  farm  known  as  the  Grandin,  in 
which  Mr.  Dalrymple  has  an  interest  and  manages, 
lies  on  the  west  side  of  the  Red  River,  about  six  miles 
to  the  north  of  Elm  River,  a  tributary.  It  has  a 
frontage  on  Red  River  of  four  miles,  running  back  to 
the  west  some  thirteen  miles,  and  contains  28,000 
acres.  A  portion,  only,  is  in  a  solid  body;  on  the 
western  side  some  of  the  alternate  sections  being  held 
by  other  parties.  Some  six  miles  further  to  the  north, 
on  Goose  River,  another  tributary  of  the  Red,  is  a 
body  of  12,000  acres,  which  make  up  the  40,000  acres 
nt  tin-  ( Jrandin  farm.  Twenty-four  miles  to  the  west 
tin-  (Jrandin  Brothers,  J.  L.,  W.  J.,  and  E.  B.  Grandin, 
bank.rs,  "iTidioute,  Pennsylvania Jiave  another  tract 
of  neatly  30,000  acres,  known  as  the  Mayville  farm,  in 
which  Mr.  IJalrymple  has  no  interest.  This  last  farm 


THE  BONANZA  FARMS.  45 

is  designed  for  stock  raising,  being  well  supplied  with 
water  from  the  heads  of  the  Elm  and  Goose  rivers, 
and  has  at  present  250  head  of  cattle,  with  some  Dur- 
ham stock,  2  bulls  and  2  calves  being  of  full  blood, 
and  70  head  of  Cottswold  sheep,  the  ram  shearing  22 
pounds  of  washed  wool.  About  200  acres  are  in  oats 
and  barley,  with  some  wheat,  and  600  to  800  tons  of 
hay  are  cut. 

J.  L.  Grandin  is  the  principal  owner  of  the  40,000 
acre,  or  Grandin  farm.  At  present  there  are  on  the 
place  three  stations,  or  points  where  are  located  the 
buildings  necessary  for  the  operations  in  their  sec- 
tions. Station  One  is  located  in  the  northeastern  part 
of  the  farm,  about  250  yards  distant  from  the  river. 
At  this  station  are  two  dwellings,  both  of  two  stories 
and  good  size ;  one  is  painted  white,  being  the  resi- 
dence of  the  farm  superintendent  and  the  foreman  at 
that  section ;  the  other,  painted  brown,  is  fitted  up 
specially  as  a  boarding  house  for  the  hands.  There 
are  also  two  large  barns,  the  general  farm  office,  a 
large  building  for  the  storage  and  care  of  the  tools, 
known  as  machinery  hall,  a  steam  feed  mill,  black- 
smith shop,  granary,  vegetable  storehouses,  piggery, 
sheds,  etc.,  in  all  thirteen  good,  substantial,  well 
painted  buildings,  having  the  appearance,  at  a  short 
distance,  of  a  considerable  village.  At  this  station 
are  two  large  wind  mills,  one  near  the  superinten- 
dent's residence,  the  otlier  on  the  bank  of  the  river, 
about  300  yards  distant,  that  forces  water  into  a  tank 
at  the  station.  On  the  bank  of  the  river  is  a  store- 
house for  the  shipment  of  grain,  with  two  cars  to  run 
on  a  double  wooden  tramway,  so  arranged  that  the 


46  LAND  AND  LABOR. 

loaded  car  in  descending  to  the  boat  will  draw  up  the 
empty  one. 

Station  Two  is  two  and  a  half  miles  to  the  south  of 
Station  One,  containing  the  dwelling  of  the  foreman  at 
that  portion  of  the  farm,  and  a  boarding  house,  both 
smaller  than  at  Station  One  ;  a  machinery  hall,  a  large 
barn,  and  a  blacksmith  shop,  with  other  buildings, 
eight  in  all,  substantial  and  well  painted.  At  this 
station  is  a  large  water  tank,  filled  by  a  wind  mill  on 
the  bank  of  the  river  one  half  mile  to  the  east.  On 
the  river  bank,  at  that  point,  is  another  storehouse 
like  that  at  Station  One,  and  for  the  same  purpose. 

Station  Three,  one  half  mile  south  and  one  mile 
west  of  Station  Two,  has  one  dwelling  of  one  and  a 
half  stories  for  the  foreman  there  located,  and  cook- 
ing arrangements  for  the  men  there  employed,  who 
find  sleeping  room  in  the  loft  over  machinery  hall ; 
beside  which  there  is  a  large  barn  and  other  small 
buildings.  At  this  station  there  was  being  erected  a 
granary  of  the  capacity  of  50,000  bushels.  The  build- 
ings of  this  station  are  of  the  same  substantial  char- 
acter as  the  others  upon  the  farm.  The  three  stations 
are  connected  by  telegraph  and  telephone,  and  with 
the  general  office  at  Station  One. 

The  local  management  of  the  farm  is  under  the 
care  of  a  nephew  of  Mr.  Dalrymple,  of  the  same  name, 
who  is  superintendent,  with  a  foreman  at  each  station. 
The  foreman  at  Station  One  is  a  native  of  New  Hamp- 
shire, and  has  his  wife  and  three  children  with  him, 
bring  the  only  woman  and  children  on  the  whole  place. 

The  numbers  employed  on  the  farm  are,  from  April 
1st  to  April  30th,  150  men ;  from  May  1st  to  July 


THE  BONANZA  FARMS.  47 

15th,  20  men  ;  but  if  breaking  new  ground,  50  ;  from 
July  16th  to  July  31st,  100  men  ;  from  August  1st 
to  September  15th,  250  men  ;  from  September  16th 
to  October  31st,  75  men ;  from  November  1st  to 
March  31st,  10  men. 

The  wages  are,  from  November  1st  to  March  31st, 
$15  per  month  ;  from  April  1st  to  April  30th,  $18  ; 
from  May  1st  to  July  31st,  $16  ;  from  August  1st  to 
August  15th,  $2  per  day  ;  from  August  16th  to  Sep- 
tember 15th,  $1  50  per  day  ;  from  September  16th  to 
October  31st,  $18  per  month. 

The  tools,  machinery,  and  animals  employed  are, 
67  plows,  of  which  11  are  gangs  of  2  plows  each  ;  64 
harrows;  32  seeders  of  8  feet;  6  mowers;  34  self 
binding  harvesters  ;  7  steam  engines  and  thrashers 
adapted  to  burning  straw  for  fuel ;  50  wagons  ;  and 
125  head  of  horses  and  mules.  For  30  days  30  teams 
of  2  horses  are  hired.  There  are  on  the  place  100 
hogs  and  pigs,  and  30  head  of  cattle.  This  year  there 
are  5,300  acres  in  cultivation,  of  which  4,855  acres  are 
in  wheat,  304  acres  in  oats,  127  acres  in  barley,  and  9 
acres  in  potatoes.  About  1,000  tons  of  hay  are  cut. 

There  are  1,200  acres  of  new  land  now  broken,  to 
be  seeded  next  year,  in  addition  to  the  amount  already 
under  cultivation,  giving  6,500  acres  for  the  crop  of 
1880.  It  is  the  avowed  intention  to  add  to  the  amount 
under  cultivation  from  year  to  year,  and  construct  ad- 
ditional stations  as  required. 

The  men  are  called  at  four  o'clock  in  the  morning, 
breakfast,  and  get  to  work  a  little  after  five,  and  work 
till  seven  in  the  evening,  with  one  hour  at  noon  for 
dinner,  making  nearly  thirteen  hours  of  labor  per  day. 


48  LAND  AND  LABOR. 

Going  to  the  Grandin  farm  from  the  way  of  Fargo, 
one  mile  from  the  place,  upon  the  left  hand,  a  field  of 
one  mile  square  of  wheat  was  seen,  belonging  to  Dr. 
Garrett,  of  Philadelphia.  Passing  that  field,  with  no 
visible  division  between,  the  wheat  fields  of  the  Gran- 
din  farm  are  reached,  lying  on  both  sides  of  the  road 
for  four  continuous  miles  ;  that  on  the  left  hand  being 
two  miles  wide  and  on  the  right  about  a  half  mile  to 
the  river.  A  row  of  young  elms  has  been  set  out  on 
both  sides  of  the  road  for  the  full  four  miles,  and,  also, 
about  the  yard  of  the  superintendent's  dwelling,  at 
Station  One.  But  not  a  fruit  tree  or  bush  was  to  be 
seen.  Mr.  Grandin  informed  me  it  was  the  intention 
to  divide  the  whole  farm  into  section  lots  of  640  acres 
each,  opening  roads  on  the  section  lines  and  planting 
elms  on  all  the  roads. 

Every  facility  was  afforded  for  the  fullest  observa- 
tion, and  to  give  me  all  the  information  desired.  It 
would  be  difficult  to  find  a  finer  sight  than  was  pre- 
sented by  those  magnificent  fields  of  grain,  standing 
breast  high,  taking  on  the  golden  yellow  that  precedes 
the  harvest,  their  heads,  as  far  as  the  eye  could  reach, 
standing  as  level  and  smooth  as  the  top  of  a  great 
table  ;  and  when  fanned  by  the  wind  moving  in  rip- 
ples and  waves  like  the  waters  of  a  sea. 

It  was  believed  that  the  yield  of  wheat  would  be  at 
least  twenty  bushels  to  the  acre.  Some  portions,  it 
was  said,  would  give  more  than  thirty  bushels.  It 
certainly  was  very  fine.  The  grain  grown  upon  the 
farm,  and  by  others  near  the  river,  was  shipped  to 
Fargo  by  way  of  the  Grandin  line  of  steamers.  The 
river,  though  narrow  and  tortuous,  affording  plenty  of 


THE  BONANZA  FARMS.  49 

water  for  boats  of  light  draft ;  the  current  appearing 
to  run  about  two  and  a  half  or  three  miles  an  hour. 

On  my  return  to  Fargo,  by  stage,  I  had  for  com- 
panions two  gentlemen  from  Iowa,  who  had  been 
examining  the  valley  up  to  near  the  British  line. 
They  told  me  that  farther  to  the  north  the  wheat 
appeared  to  be  even  better  than  at  Grandin  or  nearer 
Fargo. 

On  the  way  to  that  town  my  attention  was  particu- 
larly attracted  by  the  many  large  fields  of  wheat  and 
oats,  some  of  them  a  mile  square,  all  along  the  road, 
and  away  from  it  as  far  as  could  be  seen  from  the  top 
of  the  stage.  Inquiries  put  to  the  driver  gave  me  the 
information  that  much  the  larger  portion  belonged  to 
men  doing  business  in  Fargo,  or  its  neighborhood. 
It  was  doctor  A,  or  lawyer  B,  or  some  merchant,  or 
trader,  or  speculator  who  owned  this  or  that  field. 
There,  as  elsewhere,  everybody  had  turned  wheat 
growers  or  farmers  of  some  kind. 

Two  miles  east  of  Castleton,  and  eighteen  west  of 
Fargo,  is  the  station  of  Dalrymple,  and  the  sites  of 
the  Cass,  Cheney,  and  Alton  farms,  forming  one  com- 
pact body  of  land,  on  the  two  sides  of  the  road,  six 
miles  in  length,  north  and  south,  and  four  miles  in 
width,  east  and  west ;  this  body  being  one  wheat  field 
for  the  six  miles,  north  and  south,  and  three  miles  on 
the  road,  which  cuts  it  in  the  center,  except  for  a  few 
small  bodies  of  oats  and  barley. 

The  Cass  farm,  owned  by  Charles  W.  Cass,  of  New 
York  City,  has  6,355  acres,  of  which  4,327  acres  are 
in  wheat,  and  350  acres  in  oats  and  barley.  Newly 
broken  ground  for  next  year's  seedii 


50  LAND  AND  LABOR. 

The  Cheney  farm,  of  5,200  acres,  owned  by  Benja- 
min P.  Cheney,  of  Boston,  Massachusetts,  has  3,480 
acres  in  wheat,  and  320  acres  in  oats  and  barley.  No 
new  land  broken. 

The  Alton  farm,  of  4,000  acres,  the  exclusive  prop- 
erty of  Mr.  Dalrymple,  has  about  2,000  acres  in  grain 
(I  have  not  the  exact  figures)  and  1,200  acres  of  new- 
ly broken  land. 

The  Cass  and  Cheney  farms  will  employ,  during 
harvest  and  thrashing,  235  men.  The  Alton  in  the 
the  same  ratio,  or  about  55  men.  During  the  winter 
season  each  farm  requires  two  or  three  men  to  take 
care  of  the  stock  and  look  after  the  machinery  and 
buildings  ;  say  seven  men.  When  no  new  land  is 
broken  not  more  than  ten  men  are  required  on  either 
farm  between  seed  time  and  harvest ;  say,  twenty-five 
men  for  the  three  farms.  During  seed  time  the  three 
farms  require  about  125  men. 

On  the  Cass  farm  there  are  thirteen  seeders,  thirty 
self  binding  harvesters,  and  five  straw  burning  steam 
thrashers.  The  Cheney  farm  has  nineteen  seeders, 
twenty-six  self  binding  harvesters,  and  four  straw 
burning  steam  thrashers.  The  Alton  farm  has  sub- 
stantially the  same  ratio  of  implements  to  the  number 
of  acres  under  cultivation,  and  the  three  farms  have 
m-arly  double  the  amount  of  other  farming  imple- 
ments and  work  stock  as  is  here  reported  in  use  on 
the  Grandin  place. 

The  four  farms  being  under  one  general  manage- 
in,  'ill.  and  conducted  on  the  same  principle,  require 
the  same  number  of  men,  animals,  and  tools  for  every 
hundred  acres  under  cultivation,  and  are  under  sub- 


THE  BONANZA  FARMS.  51 

stantially  the  same  rate  of  expense ;  so  that  the  re- 
port for  the  Grandin  farm  will  closely  indicate  the 
working  force  and  methods  of  the  others.  The  ac- 
counts of  each  farm  are  kept  altogether  separate  and 
distinct. 

On  the  Cheney  farm  are  three  stations ;  number 
two  having  eight  buildings,  the  other  two  a  smaller 
number.  The  Cass  farm,  also,  has  three  stations,  one 
principal  and  two  minor.  The  Alton  farm  has  two 
stations,  both  being  small. 

Everywhere  upon  these  three  farms  were  observed 
the  same  evidences  of  good  husbandry,  substantial 
and  well  kept  buildings  and  improvements,  tools  and 
stock  that  was  seen  on  the  Grandin  farm.  In  none 
of  the  fields  were  weeds  to  be  seen,  nor  tools  grass 
grown  and  covered  in  the  field  edges  and  corners,  nor 
doors  nor  gates  hanging  by  single  hinges. 

Here  as  in  parts  of  Kansas  and  Minnesota,  are  no 
field  fencings.  The  face  of  the  country  is  one  broad, 
unbroken  tract,  except  for  an  occasional  station  of  the 
large  farms,  or  small  farm  buildings. 

Most  persons  in  reading  of  fields  described  by  hun- 
dreds and  thousands  of  acres  can  form  but  little  idea 
of  their  actual  or  comparative  sizes.  To  assist  to  a 
better  understanding  of  the  sizes  of  these  fields  and 
farms  I  will  state  that  Manhattan  Island,  the  site  of 
the  City  of  New  York,  has  an  area  of  about  twenty- 
two  square  miles,  or  14,000  acres.  The  fields  of  grain 
of  the  three  farms  lying  together  contain  an  area  of 
10,477  acres,  or  about  three  fourths  of  the  area  of  the 
City  of  New  York.  The  Grandin  farm  of  40,000 
acres  has  nearly  space  enough  for  three  cities  like 


52  LAND  AND  LABOR. 

New  York ;  and  the  whole  farm  property  of  the 
Grandins  would  furnish  sites  for  five  such  cities. 
Whatever  else  may  be  said  of  these  operations,  they 
certainly  are  not  wanting  in  grandeur. 

It  was  claimed  that  the  yield  of  wheat  on  these 
three  farms  would  not  be  less  than  twenty-two  bush- 
els to  the  acre  ;  some  portions  of  the  fields  on  the  Al- 
ton farm  were  the  finest  I  had  seen. 

A  careful  estimate  of  the  cost  of  wheat  growing  on 
the  four  farms  under  Mr.  Dulrymple's  management 
would  show  a  cost  materially  less  than  that  given  by 
Mr.  Kendall,  on  the  Thompson  &  Kendall  farm, 
which  was  $3  24  per  acre,  land,  stock,  and  tools  be- 
ing given.  But  calculated  on  the  Thompson  &  Ken- 
dall basis  —  of  $3  24  per  acre  of  cost,  with  twenty 
bushels  per  acre  of  yield,  at  70  cents  per  bushel, 
would  give  a  cost  of  a  little  more  than  16  cents  a 
bushel,  allowing  10  per  cent,  interest  on  entire  invest- 
ment and  25  per  cent,  for  wear  and  tear  of  tools,  and 
a  net  profit  of  $10  76  per  acre.  This  would  give  a 
profit  on  the  crop  of  wheat  on  the  four  farms  of 
Nl.T7,763;  or  for  the  Grtmdin  farm  alone,  $52,239. 
The  total  value  of  the  whole  amount  of  wheat,  at  70 
cents,  would  be  $205,268 ;  or  for  the  Grandin  farm, 
$67,970.  But  the  proprietors  confidently  expect  to 
realize  not  less  than  90  cents  a  bushel  for  their  wheat, 
on  account  of  its  superiority  and  the  facilities  they  can 
command  for  transportation  and  storage.  They,  also, 
have  "special  railroad  rates." 

Between  Fargo  and  Bismarck,  a  distance  of  194 
miles,  are  many  farms  of  the  size  of  thousands  of  acres 
that  are  already  under  partial  cultivation,  or  are  being 


THE  BONANZA   FARMS.  53 

prepared  for  immediate  cultivation  under  similar  con- 
ditions. Among  those  farthest  west  may  be  men- 
tioned one  at  the  Eighth  Siding,  83  miles  from  Fargo, 
the  farm  of  Adams  &  Kussell,  with  700  acres  in  grain. 
At  the  Thirteenth  Siding,  143  miles  west,  the  Troy 
farm,  owned  by  Van  Dusen,  of  Troy,  New  York,  with 
]  ,400  acres  now  broken  for  next  year.  At  the  Four- 
teenth Siding,  151  miles  west,  the  farm  owned  by 
Steele,  of  Milwaukee,  of  5,120  acres,  with  750  acres 
in  grain,  and  1,200  acres  of  new  land  broken.  At  the 
Seventeenth  Siding,  181  miles  west,  the  Clark  form, 
owned  by  capitalists  in  Philadelphia,  who  are  said  to 
hold  vast  tracts,  with  500  acres  in  grain  and  1,000 
acres  of  new  land  broken.  These  farms  I  saw  from 
the  cars,  and  inquiries  informed  me  that  for  miles 
upon  either  side  of  the  road,  similar  farms  and  work" 
were  to  be  seen. 

The  small  farmers  and  their  shanties  in  that  region 
were  not  numerous  ;  but  so  far  as  I  could  learn  the,ir 
condition  was  not  relatively  better  nor  worse  than  in 
other  sections. 

In  Minnesota,  as  in  Dakota  and  Kansas,  a  large 
portion  of  the  residents  of  the  towns,  especially  on  the 
lines  of  the  railroads,  with  the  officers,  conductors,  en- 
gineers, and  other  employes  of  the  roads,  were  gener- 
ally adventurers  in  agriculture  ;  holding  and  cultivat- 
ing by  contracts,  shares,  or  otherwise  such  lands  as 
they  could  obtain  and  work. 

I  found  that  in  most  places,  from  Brainerd,  Minne- 
sota, to  Bismarck,  Dakota,  in  all  the  great  region 
where  wheat  is  grown  so  abundantly  and  cheaply,  first 
class  flour,  such  as  was  made  from  the  quality  of  grain 


54  LAND  AND  LABOR. 

there  grown,  was  selling,  from  the  local  stores,  at  about 
seven  dollars  a  barrel.  With  wheat  at  seventy  cents 
a  bushel,  the  highest  price  the  small  former  could 
obtain,  and  flour  at  seven  dollars  a  barrel,  which  he 
was  compelled  to  pay  for  all  that  he  consumed,  it  is 
readily  seen  that  the  wheat  grower  is  compelled  to 
give  ten  bushels  of  wheat  for  one  barrel  of  flour,  that 
contains  only  about  four  and  one  half  bushels  of  the 
grain  from  which  it  is  made.  That  the  farmer  now, 
instead  of  having  his  wheat  converted  into  flour,  as 
did  our  fathers,  for  a  toll  of  one  eighth  or  tenth,  is 
compelled  to  submit  to  an  extortion  of  more  than  one 
half,  in  face  of  the  fact  that  machinery  has  greatly 
facilitated  that  operation.  In  Kansas  I  found  that 
the  toll  extorted  from  the  farmers  by  some  of  the 
local  flouring  mills  amounted,  in  some  cases,  to  more 
than  seventy  per  cent.  I  did  not  observe  any  flouring 
mills  upon  the  lines  of  those  roads. 

I  particularly  noticed  the  conspicuous  absence  of 
women  and  children  upon  the  large  farms.  In  no 
case  was  the  permanent  residence  of  a  family  to  be 
found  upon  them,  or  anything  that  could  be  called  a 
home,  with  a  possible  exception  in  the  instance  of  Mr. 
Kendall,  on  the  Thompson  &  Kendall  farm.  Even 
the  Dalrymple  families  being  but  transient  dwellers 
at  the  farms,  their  homes  being  in  St.  Paul.  The 
id'  ,i  of  home  does  not  pertain  to  them  ;  they  are  sim- 
ple business  ventures,  before  which  the  home  feature 
ninks  out  of  sight. 

Naturally  this  will  save  all  expense  of  schools  or 
churches  in  their  neighborhood,  and  the  schoolmaster 
and  clergyman  will  there  have  a  perpetual  holiday. 


THE  BONANZA  FARMS.  55 

But  I  was  pleased  to  see  that  a  Sunday  service  was 
held  on  the  Grandin  farm,  conducted  by  the  book- 
keeper. 

Throughout  my  tour  it  was  noticed  that  there  was 
a  great  abundance  of  unemployed  labor.  The  morn- 
ing I  left  the  Grandin  farm  there  were  at  one  time 
thirteen  men  at  the  office  door,  soliciting  work,  a  por- 
tion only  obtaining  it,  the  others  tramping  onwards  in 
further  search.  On  one  of  the  forms  I  inquired  of  one 
man  what  pay  he  was  receiving.  He  replied  eight 
dollars,  but  was  promised  more  during  harvest.  I 
then  asked  him  where  he  expected  to  get  employment 
after  the  harvest  was  over.  He  said  he  did  not  expect 
to  be  able  to  find  any  before  the  next  spring's  work 
commenced.  The  answers  appeared  so  natural,  and 
so  like  what  all  must  have  given,  that  I  did  not  re- 
peat them. 

To  well  weigh  the  economic  effects  of  the  develop- 
ments here  considered,  it  must  be  remembered  that 
they  are  yet  in  their  infancy  —  that  they  are  mainly 
the  growth  of  the  last  half  of  the  past  and  the  present 
decade  —  and  must  make  some  effort  to  estimate  the 
probable  future  development  of  the  same  forces  and 
effects  under  the  present  rate  of  acceleration.*  All 
parties  engaged  in  these  enterprises  concurred  in  the 
statement  that  great  numbers  of  capitalists  who  are 
already  large  holders  of  agricultural  lands,  as  well  as 
others  who  have  not  yet  obtained  any,  are  only  wait- 

*  Since  my  examination  of  these  operations  the  development 
and  extension  of  bonanza  farms  has  been  marvellous.  For  sta- 
tistics of  this  matter  see  chapter  on  "  Growth  and  Development 
of  Tenant  and  Bonanza  Farms." 


56  LAND  AND  LABOR. 

ing  the  results  of  the  present  harvest  before  they  also 
enter  into  the  business.  The  amounts  of  new  land 
broken,  in  all  directions,  for  future  seeding,  are  very 
great. 

The  two  great  facts  developed  by  these  observations 
are,  that  those  who  have  gone  into  wheat  growing 
upon  a  large  scale,  making  use  of  the  most  improved 
machinery  and  cheap  labor,  are  making  colossal  for- 
tunes at  seventy  cents  per  bushel  for  wheat,  limited 
only  by  the  number  of  acres  cultivated  and  the  skill 
with  which  the  work  is  done  ;  and  that  it  may  also 
be  grown,  at  large  profits,  for  less  than  twenty-five 
cents  per  bushel. 

But  that,  on  the  other  hand,  the  small  farmers,  de- 
pending mainly  on  their  own  labor,  with  limited  capi- 
tal and  less  machinery,  are  not  making  a  comfortable 
subsistence,  but  are  running  behind  hand  and  must 
go  under  ;  and  that  a  further  reduction  in  the  market 
price  for  food  products  must  hasten  their  end. 

Before  agricultural  machinery  had  come  into  gen- 
eral use,  and  before  the  age  of  railroads,  the  farms  of 
our  fathers  would  average,  in  size,  but  little  more 
than  one  hundred  acres,  with  an  amount  of  plowland 
equalling  about  fifty  acres  each.  Very  rarely  did  they 
exceed  double  that  amount.  On  every  such  farm  was 
there  a  family  home,  with  all  the  ties,  endearments, 
advantages,  and  improvements  that  the  word  " home" 
conveys  to  our  minds.  They  furnished  not  alone 
homes,  but  employment,  abundance,  and  comfort  for 
irnily  of  at  least  a  dozen  persons.  Go  through 
New  England,  New  York,  New  Jersey,  Pennsylvania, 
and  Ohio,  and  see  the  great  numbers  of  such  places, 


THE  BONANZA  FARMS.  5V 

all  of  them  formerly  family  homesteads,  lying  within 
sight  and  hailing  distance  of  each  other.  From  a 
half  dozen  to  an  hundred  may  be  seen  from  almost 
any  elevated  point. 

Now  mark  the  change  that  has  already  taken  place, 
and  is  fast  obtaining  in  all  our  new  and  great  agricul- 
tural regions.  (Under  the  power  of  machinery  and 
capital  the  farms  have  grown  from  the  size  of  100 
acres,  as  formerly,  to  1,000  acres,  to  10,000  acres,  to 
100,000  acres,  even  to  500,000  acres,  or  nearly  800 
square  miles,  and  more,  with  not  one  home  upon  their 
vast  areas  ;)  with  no  one  surrounding  a  family  rooftree 
with  all  that  made  the  old  home  a  paradise.  (Yet 
these  huge  tracts  are  being  developed,  cultivated, 
and  made  to  yield  as  was  no  farm  in  the  days  of  our 
fathers.  Now,  machinery  and  a  few  score  or  a  few 
hundred  hirelings  and  animals,  to  run  and  attend  the 
machines,  do  the  work  under  the  eye  of  overseers. 
The  hirelings) — the  human  animals — fare  worked  for 
a  few  weeks  or  a  few  months  in  the  year,  paid  barely 
enough  to  live  upon  for  the  time  being,  and  then  are 
turned  out  and  driven  from  the  place,  to  tramp  or  live 
as  best  they  can,  no  matter  what  may  be  the  want 
and  misery  of  their  lives,  whilst  the  brute  animals  and 
machines  are  well  housed  and  cared  for.  The  owner 
of  the  farm  has  a  property  interest  in  the  brute,  but 
no  interest  whatever  in  the  human  animal  other  than 
that  of  getting  the  greatest  possible  amount  of  work 
for  the  least  amount  of  compensation.  The  most  val- 
uable improvements  are  for  the  protection  of  the 
brutes  and  the  machinery,  whilst  the  human  tillers  of 
the  soil  have  neither  right  nor  interest  in  anything 


58  LAND  AND  LABOR. 

they  see,  or  touch,  or  produce.  In  this  way  the  finest 
sections  of  our  country,  in  tracts  running  up  to  the 
size  of  eight  hundred  or  more  square  miles  —  areas 
that  would  give  fifty  acres  of  plowland  to  more  than 
a  thousand  families,  and  to  our  fathers  would  have 
furnished  homes,  ample  employment,  and  comfort  to 
more  than  ten  thousand  people  —  are  now  without 
even  one  home,  and  furnish  but  transient  and  uncer- 
tain employment  to  a  few  hundreds. 

This  state  of  things  is  made  possible,  and  is  obtain- 
ing, solely  by  and  under  the  power  and  use  of  ma- 
chinery ;  first  in  the  hands  of  individual  capitalists ; 
then  in  the  hands  of  companies ;  and,  lastly,  by 
corporations. 

The  owners  of  these  large  tracts  have  bonanzas, 
yielding  great  profits,  not  one  dollar  of  which  is  ex- 
pended in  beautifying  and  permanently  improving 
their  vast  estates,  beyond  that  necessary  for  the  care 
of  the  stock  and  tools,  nor  in  sustaining  a  permanent 
population.  Their  homes,  their  pleasures,  their  fam- 
ily ties,  are  not  upon  their  farms.  Their  wealth  is 
llauntnl  in  the  gaieties  and  dissipations,  or  expended 
in  building  and  developing  some  distant  city  or  coun- 
try. But  the  owner  and  cultivator  of  the  small  farm 
in  its  neighborhood,  upon  which  he  has  planted  his 
roof  tree,  and  around  which  are  gathered  all  his  hopes 

!  ambitions,  finds  it  impossible  to  pay  his  ta\ 

clothe  and  educate,  or  find  any  comfort  for  his  wife 

i    little  ones.     The  case  of  the  small  farmer  is 

steadily  going  from  bad  to  worse.     The  two  can  not 

t  together  ;  the  small  fanner  can  not  successfully 

c<ftnpetc  with    his   gigantic  neighbor  under  present 


THE  BONANZA  FARMS.  59 

conditions.     He  will  inevitably  be  swallowed  up.     It 
is  at  best  but  a  question  of  time. 

Tims  are  vast  areas,  in  the  very  heart  of  our  coun- 
try, barred  and  closed  to  the  occupation  and  owner- 
ship of  our  people  in  small  tracts,  and  the  making  of 
homes  for  a  strong  and  thrifty  population,  but  are 
made  centers  of  weakness  that  are  sure,  soon  or  late, 
under  present  tendencies,  to  spread  over  the  whole 
land. 

On  the  large  majority  of  these  great  holdings  small 
portions  only  of  their  areas  are  found  under  present 
cultivation.  During  the  first  year  one  to  three  thou- 
sand acres  are  put  under  the  plow,  and  each  succeed- 
ing season  an  addition  of  one  or  more  thousand  acres 
is  made  to  the  amount  that  is  worked.  In  this  man- 
ner the  proprietors  declare  it  to  be  their  intention  to 
increase  their  business  to  the  extent  desired.  The 
greatest  number  of  acres  under  the  plow,  by  one  man, 
of  which  I  have  any  knowledge,  is  in  California,  near 
Colusa,  in  the  Sacramento  valley,  about  one  hundred 
miles  above  the  city  of  Sacramento.  Upon  that  farm 
fifty-seven  thousand  acres,  or  ninety  square  miles,  are 
under  cultivation,  mostly  in  wheat.  The  labor  is  in 
large  part  Chinese. 

(The  development  of  the  large  farm  interest  is  by  no 
means  confined  to  Kansas,  Minnesota,  and  Dakota. 
The  sections  covered  in  my  late  tour  are  but  three 
points  where  these  developments  have  been  the  most 
recent,  as  well  as  of  great  extent.  '_  In  Kansas  there 
has  been  a  movement  in  the  same  direction  of  perhaps 
unparalleled  magnitude. 

James  Macdonald,  Esq.,  the  travelling  correspon- 


60  LAND  AND  LABOR. 

dent  of  the  "  Scotsman,"  a  newspaper  published  in 
Scotland,  in  a  recent  publication,  writes  of  cumbers 
of  gigantic  cattle  and  grain  farms  that  fell  under  his 
observation  in  1877,  in  various  parts  of  our  great  grain 
and  meat  producing  sections.  I  make  a  few  quota- 
tions from  his  "  Food  in  the  Far  West,"  published  by 
William  P.  Nimmo,  London  and  Edinburgh.  Of 
Texas  he  says  :  — 

"Two  of  tbe  largest  cattle  owners  in  this  neighborhood  are 
Mr.  Allen  and  Mr.  Butler,  the  former  of  whom  has  a  fence  along 

the  line  side  for  no  less  than  twelve  miles Mr.  Butler's 

ranch  is  under  the  management  of  a  young,  practical,  intelligent 
Scotchman,  extends  to  over  27,000  acres,  all  enclosed,  and  is  held 
in  connection  with  an  arable  farm  of  over  900  acres  a  few  miles 
farther  west,  where  Indian  corn  and  sugar  are  grown  extensive- 
ly and  successfully.''  —  Page  37. 

On  pages  42  and  43  he  says  :  — 

"  Many  of  the  large  owners  are  nonresident,  the  number  of 
squatters  are  few  and  growing  but  slowly,  and  hence  the  popu- 
lation of  this  district  is  limited  and  wide  spread.  There  are  a 
few  'broad  acred  squires'  here.  Captain  King,  Nueces  County, 
possesses  150,000  acres  fenced,  and  about  200,000  unfenced  land, 
and  owns  between  40,000  and  50,000  cattle  and  5,000  sheep. 

Captain  Kennedy,  also  of  Nueces  County,  owns  about 

140,000  acres,  all  within  fence,  and  about  40,000  cattle ;  while 
Messrs.  Coleman,  Matthias  &  Fulton,  of  Aransas,  have  210,000 

acres  within  fence,  and  own  about  100,000  cattle Mrs. 

Rabb,  Corpus  Christi,  has  50,000  acres  enclosed,  and  owns  15,000 

cattle There  are  many  others  who  count  their  acres 

and  cattle  by  thousands." 

A  farm  of  350,000  acres  would  furnish  area  suffi- 
cient for  twenty-five  such  cities  as  New  York,  on 
Manhattan  Island. 


THE  BONANZA  FARMS.  Gi 

Mr.  Macdonald  in  writing  of  Kansas  tells  of  Albert 
Crane's  10,000  acre  farm,  on  page  81 ;  of  the  100,000 
acres  of  Mr.  George  Grant,  of  London,  England,  page 
S'2  ;  and  of  the  wheat  farm  of  Mr.  T.  C.  Henry,  near 
Abilene,  page  77.  He  also  speaks  of  the  "half  culti- 
vated homesteads  that  had  been  deserted,"  on  the  line 
of  the  Central  Branch  Union  Pacific  Kailroad,  and  of 
some  of  the  difficulties  that  the  small  farmers  encoun- 
ter which  make  success  impossible  page  74.  On 
page  95  he  writes  :  - 

"  The  '  Cattle  King '  of  Colorado  is  Mr.  J.  W.  Iliff,  of  South 
Platte.  He  began  cattle  raising  on  a  small  scale  in  1861,  and 
now  owns  close  on  35,000  cattle  and  nine  ranches,  extending  to 
over  15,000  acres,  and  stretching  for  thirty  miles  along  the 
north  bank  of  the  south  fork  of  the  river  Platte." 

Mr.  Macdonald  also  tells  of  large  farms  in  Illinois. 
One  in  Sangamon  County,  of  4,200  acres,  belonging 
to  Mr.  Sculley,  from  Ireland,  page  129  ;  and  another 
of  3,000  acres,  near  Berlin,  known  as  the  Grove  Park 
farm,  owned  by  the  Messrs.  Browns,  page  140  ;  and 
Mr.  John  B.  Gillett,  Elkhart,  Macon  County,  has  a 
farm  of  12,000  acres,  a  considerable  portion  of  which 
is  devoted  to  Indian  corn,  the  larger  part  being  raised 
by  tenants,  page  144.  He  says  that 

"  A  considerable  extent  of  this  State  is  worked  by  tenants 
who  pay  a  money  rent  of  about  three  dollars  per  acre,  or  a  cer- 
tain proportion  of  the  crops  grown  —  a  third,  or  a  half,  or  two 
fifths."  —  Page  130. 

California  is  noted  for  its  farms  of  thousands  of 
acres,  and  the  great  proportion  of  its  area  that  is  cul- 
tivated by  tenantry.  Throughout  the  whole  extent 


62 


LAND  AND  LABOR. 


of  that  portion  of  our  western  country  that  was  not 
cursed  by  the  existence  of  slavery  upon  its  soil,  there 
has,  within  the  present  and  past  decade,  been  an 
alarming  increase  in  the  number  of  great  landholders 
who,  with  all  the  power  of  capital,  machinery,  and 
cheap  labor,  have  entered  into  deadly  competition 
with  the  small  farmer.  Before  the  census  of  1870 
had  been  taken  the  movement  had  begun  throughout 
all  the  free  States,  as  shown  by  the  following  table, 
exhibiting,  first,  the  number  of  farms  of  1,000  acres 
and  over  in  the  nonslaveholding  States  west  of  Ohio, 
in  the  years  1860  and  1870  ;  and,  secondly,  the  num- 
ber of  farms  of  the  same  character  in  the  nonslave- 
holding States  east  of  Ohio  and  including  that  State, 
as  shown  by  the  Census  Keports  of  1870. 


I860 


1870 


1860 


California, 

262 

Illinois, 

194 

Indiana, 

74 

Iowa, 

10 

Kansas, 

1 

Michigan, 

3 

Minnesota, 

0 

Nebraska, 

1 

Nevada, 

2 

Oregon, 

47 

Qtah, 

0 

Washington, 

1 

Wisconsin, 

11 

713  Connecticut,  4 

302  Maine,  2 

76  Massachusetts,  0 

38  New  Hampshire,     4 

13  New  Jersey,  6 

5  New  York,  21 

2  Ohio,  112 
0  Pennsylvania,  15 

3  Rhode  Island,  0 
88  Vermont,  11 

2 

12             Total,  175 
32 


1870 

1 

0 

3 

6 

8 

36 

69 

*    76 

2 

15 

219 


Total,         606         1,286 

* 

In  the  Northwestern  States  between  1860  and  1870 


THE  BONANZA  FARMS. 

the  number  had  more  than  doubled,  and  in  \ 
eastern  section,  the  very  oldest  portion  of  th- 
tural  region  of  our  country,  the  increase 
nineteen  per  cent.     Of  the  movement  hi  the  • 
decade  enough  is  shown  in  the  follow] 
ter  to  demonstrate  that  within  the  last  twej, 
we  have  taken  immense  strides  in  placing  our  country 
in  the  position  in  which  Europe  is  found  after  a  thou- 
sand years  of  feudal  robbery  and  tyranny  of  capital  - 
with  the  lands  concentrated  in  large  tracts  in  the 
hands  of  the  few,  and  cultivated  by  a  people  who  are 
but  mere  slaves  of  the  rich. 

Before  the  end  of  the  first  quarter  of  the  present 
century  this  thing  was  simply  impossible  in  the  North- 
ern States,  though  it  existed  in  the  Southern  as  a 
natural  feature  of  slavery.     It  was  not  till  after  labor 
saving  machinery  had  approached  its  present  marvel- 
lous development,  and  had  displaced  so  great  a  per 
centage  of  the  manual  labor  of  the  country  as  to  prac- 
tically turn  one  half  of  the  workers  out  of  all  produc- 
tive pursuits,  that  unemployed  labor  became  so  abun- 
dant and  cheap  as  to  be  available  in  such  operations. 
Under  present  conditions  capital  can  at  any  time  de- 
pend upon  obtaining  all  the  service  required  for  any 
emergency,  upon  its  own  terms,  and  it  has  become 
possible,  in  the  old  free  States,  to  profitably  monopo- 
lize and  cultivate  vast  tracts  of  land  as  herein  related. 
Even  so  soon  as  the  close  of  this  second  decade  of  the 
movement  in  the  North,  it  is  found  to  have  obtained 
an  acceleration  equalled  only  by  a  body  falling  through 
space.     The  effects  growing  out  of  this  state  of  things  . 
are  of  the  most  serious  character,  and  will  inevitably 


64  LAND  AND  LABOR. 

.;  upon  our  people  the  most  terrible  revolutionary 

icts. 
,is  already  begun  and  will  complete  the  destruc- 

of  the  small  farm  i  of  our  country,  and 

it  of  existence  the  homes  and  homesteads  of 

people.     Because,  under  the  operation  of  \\ 

talistic  economists  declare  to  be  a  "beneficent 
competition,"  and  the  present  great  division  of  labor, 
the  small  farmer  can  not  successfully  compete  with 
his  gigantic  neighbor  who  commands  unlimited  re- 
sources of  capital  and  cheap  labor.  The  small  farmer, 
in  this  "  beneficent  competition,"  is  in  the  same  rela- 
tive position  to  the  great  farmer  as  is  the  hand  loom 
weaver  by  the  side  of  the  great  Pacific  Mill,  in  Mas- 
sachusetts, or  the  hand  pressman  in  the  midst  of  the 
mighty  machines  of  Printing  House  Square.  No  one 
individual,  nor  aggregation  of  individuals  can,  by  the 
unaided  use  of  his  or  their  personal  labor,  under  any 
system  of  combination  or  cooperation,  successfully 
compete  with  unlimited  combinations  of  machinery, 
capital,  and  cheap  labor  in  either  weaving  or  printing  ; 
neither  can  it  be  done  in  farming.  In  the  case  of 
either  the  hand  loom  weaver,  the  hand  pressman,  or 
the  small  farmer,  they  are  alike  dependent  on  their 
own  unaided  exertions,  with  the  tools  and  machinery 
that  each  can  successfully  use  ;  and  upon  their  indi- 
vidual production  alone  must  each  and  all  subsist  and 
obtain  the  comforts  of  life,  if  they  have  any.  But  the 
capitalist  <loes  not  enter  into  the  labors  of  either  of 
16  employments,  nor  any  other.  He  buys  the 
ch'-apcst  and  most  effective  labor  to  be  had  in  the 
market,  and  uses  it  in  such  manner  as  to  constantly 


THE  BONANZA  FARMS.  G5 

cheapen  it  in  price,  or  lessen  it  in  quantity,  or  both, 
until  at  this  time  it  has  become  a  well  known  fact 
that  free  labor  is  much  cheaper  than  slave.  That  is, 
it  is  cheaper  to  buy  labor  in  the  market,  and  use  it  as 
wanted,  than  to  be  compelled  to  keep  the  laborer  for 
the  whole  year  at  the  lowest  cost  of  food  and  clothing. 

In  this  respect  the  condition  of  the  small  farmer  is 
worse  than  that  of  either  the  weaver  or  printer,  be- 
cause the  vital  work  of  the  farm  is  limited  to  two 
short  seasons  in  the  year  —  those  of  seed  time  and 
harvest  —  and  by  no  possibility  can  it  be  extended 
beyond  those  seasons.  Hence  the  amount  of  work 
that  can  be  done  in  either  the  shortest  or  most  labori- 
ous of  those  seasons,  is  the  utmost  measure  of  the 
product  which  must  provide  subsistence  for  the  whole 
year  for  himself  and  his  dependents. 

Before  the  present  great  division  of  labor  the  farmer 
and  his  family,  when  not  employed  in  planting  and 
reaping,  were  engaged  in  spinning  and  weaving,  and 
the  other  manufacturing  operations  of  the  farm  house- 
hold that  provided  the  family,  by  their  own  domestic 
manufactures,  with  the  food,  clothing,  and  shelter 
necessary  for  a  comfortable,  and  often  luxurious,  sub- 
sistence. But  now,  through  the  changes  that  have 
been  wrought  by  machinery  and  new  forces,  all  the 
domestic  manufacturing  industries  have  been  irre- 
trievably destroyed,  or  developed  under  other  forms 
and  conditions  in  the  towns  and  cities,  leaving  to  the 
farm  only  the  work  of  producing  the  raw  products  of 
bread  and  meat.  Even  these  raw  products  must  go 
into  the  market  for  manufacture  before  the  farmer  can 
use  the  larger  proportion  of  them  for  his  own  food,  as 


66  LAND  AND  LABOR. 

must  the  raw  products  of  cotton  and  wool  before  their 
growers  can  use  them  for  clothing.  But  bread  and 
meat  do  not  form  more  than  one  fourth  part  of  the 
subsistence  of  society,  nor  of  any  of  its  members  — 
not  even  of  the  farmers.  These  principles  were  well 
understood  and  clearly  stated  by  Adam  Smith,  *as 
follows  :  — 

"  When  the  division  of  labor  has  once  been  thoroughly  intro- 
duced, the  produce  of  a  man's  own  labor  can  supply  but  a  very 
small  part  of  his  occasional  wants.  The  far  greater  part  of  them 
are  supplied  by  the  produce  of  other  men's  labor,  which  he  pur- 
chases with  the  produce,  or,  what  is  the  same  thing,  with  the 
price  of  the  produce  of  his  own.  But  this  can  not  be  made  till 
such  time  as  the  produce  of  his  own  labor  has  not  only  been 
completed,  but  sold.''  —  Wealth  of  Nations. 

Therefore  the  farmer  must  have  such  a  market  for 
his  raw  food  products  as  will  supply  him  with  all  the 
necessaries  of  life,  or  he  will  starve  as  surely  as  a  man- 
ufacturer of  cloth,  or  the  maker  of  boots  and  shoes. 
But  unlike  any  other  producer  the  imperative  laws 
of  the  seasons  have  limited  the  time  for  the  effectual 
industry  of  the  farm  to  about  one  fourth  part  of  the 
year,  during  which  period  the  small  farmer  must  make 
provision  for  all  his  operative  force  for  the  full  year, 
and  from  the  fruit  of  the  labor  of  himself  and  his  own 
family  solely,  during  seed  time  and  harvest,  must  he 
provide  for  all  their  wants  and  comforts  until  the  re- 
turn of  those  seasons. 

But  with  the  capitalist  farmer  it  is  very  different. 
The  facts  that  I  have  gathered  show  that  upon  the 
Grandin  farm,  for  example,  during  the  four  weeks  of 
seed  time,  from  April  1st  to  April  30th,  there  were 


THE  BONANZA  FARMS.  67 

150  men  employed  ;  and  for  the  six  weeks  of  harvest, 
from  August  1st  to  September  15th,  there  were  250 
men,  at  wages  that  would  barely  support  the  workers 
during  the  time  they  worked  ;  whilst,  for  the  five 
months  from  November  1st  to  March  31st  there  would 
be  only  10  men,  as  estimated  for  the  coming  winter  ; 
but  in  fact  only  5  men  were  employed  during  that 
period  of  the  past  season,  with  neither  woman  nor 
child  at  any  time. 

Whilst  the  small  farmer  is  compelled  to  feed,  clothe, 
shelter,  and  altogether  provide  for  the  same  number 
of  persons  for  the  whole  year,  the  capitalist  feeds, 
clothes,  and  shelters  only  about  one  tenth  of  the 
number,  in  proportion  to  the  amount  of  work  done  or 
product  produced,  and  that  for  less  than  one  half  of 
the  year.  In  doing  this  the  capitalist  brings  to  his 
assistance  the  most  improved  and  highly  developed 
machinery,  such  as  the  small  farmer  can  utilize  to  but 
a  comparatively  small  degree,  except  through  the 
means  of  cooperation. 

Against  the  unlimited  use  of  this  combination  of 
capital,  machinery,  and  cheap  labor  the  individual 
farmer,  either  singly  or  in  communities,  can  not  suc- 
cessfully contend  and  must  go  under.  It  is  a  combi- 
nation of  the  most  powerful  social  and  economic  forces 
known  to  man,  and  all  efforts  for  successful  competi- 
tion must  and  will  fail  so  long  as  the  three  remain 
united. 

Cheap  labor  alone  always  has  been,  and  still  is,  the 
curse  of  every  country  or  people  where  it  has  or  does 
still  exist.  This  fact  is  too  well  known  to  require 
more  than  its  statement.  It  is  the  one  thing  that 


68  LAND  AND  LABOR. 

degrades  and  blasts  eveiy  people  where  it  obtains, 
and  to  just  the  extent  of  its  hold.  To-day  the  most 
conspicuous  social  feature  of  China,  of  India,  and  of 
Mexico,  is  the  cheapness  of  labor  ;  and  in  these  very 
countries  we  find  the  greatest  poverty,  misery,  and 
degradation.  In  precisely  the  same  degree  does  cheap 
labor  degrade  and  make  miserable  all  the  nations  of 
Europe  where  and  to  the  extent  it  obtains.  So  it  is 
in  our  own  country.  But,  on  the  other  hand,  never 
were  our  people,  nor  any  other,  so  prosperous,  with  so 
great  and  rapid  development,  as  when  its  labor  was 
dearest.  Our  distress  and  the  distress  of  England 
have  come  upon  us  as  the  labor  of  both  has  been 
cheapened  ;  and  the  greater  the  degree  and  more  in- 
timate the  union  between  capital,  machinery,  and 
cheap  labor  the  more  rapid  the  increase  of  the  dis- 
tress. Their  union  sounds  the  knell  of  all  those  forms 
of  industry,  and  the  social  development  and  material 
progress  out  of  which  have  grown  our  institutions. 

The  successful  development  of  the  large  farm  in- 
terest has  the  direct  and  immediate  effect  not  only  of 
impoverishing  the  sections  in  which  they  exist,  and 
robbing  and  skinning  the  lands  without  any  compen- 
sating benefit,  but  of  barring  them  to  the  settlement 
of  a  fixed  and  strong  population  that  would  cover  the 
soil  with  homes  of  comfort  for  a  great  people.  Not 
one  dollar  of  the  gross  amount  or  net  profit  received 
from  its  products  is  returned  and  placed  upon  the 
land  from  which  it  is  taken,  beyond  the  construction 
of  the  fewest  buildings  necessary  to  shelter  and  pro- 
tect the  laborers  in  the  working  seasons,  and  the  care 
of  the  work  stock  and  tools.  On  the  whole  5,300  cul- 


THE  BONANZA  FARMS.  69 

tivatcd  acres  of  the  Grandin  farm  there  was  not  one 
family  finding  there  a  permanent  home,  where  there 
should  have  been  at  least  one  to  every  fifty  acres  of 
land  in  crop,  or  one  hundred  and  six  families.  This 
would  give  one  hundred  and  six  houses  in  place  of  the 
five  that  were  there  found  ;  one  hundred  and  six  barns 
in  place  of  three,  with  other  buildings  in  like  propor- 
tion, and  a  permanent  population  of  at  least  five  hun- 
dred where  there  is  not  now  one  fixed  inhabitant,  with 
all  the  accessories  of  household  comfort  and  home 
improvement  that  do  not  now  exist  in  the  smallest 
degree.  And  so  of  the  other  65,000  acres  belonging 
to  the  same  parties  when  it  shall  come  into  cultiva- 
tion. A  fixed  population  that  would  be  continually 
adding  to  the  wealth  of  the  country  and  making  de- 
mands for  the  school  and  the  church,  instead  of  a 
nonresident  ownership  that  is  heaping  up  colossal  for- 
tunes by  skinning  the  land,  impoverishing  the  people, 
making  war  upon  women  and  children,  and  leaving 
the  country  without  homes. 

More  than  this  :  It  will  rob  future  generations  of 
their  patrimony  in  the  soil.  The  fifty  millions  that 
the  next  half  century  will  add  to  our  population  must 
find  their  homes  in  the  already  overcrowded  towns  or 
cities,  or  perchance  among  the  occasional  workers  and 
servants  upon  the  great  farms.  The  small  farmer  and 
family  homestead  will  have  passed  away,  and  our  great 
agricultural  regions  will  show  the  results  of  the  "  be- 
neficent competition  "  that  has  destroyed  them. 

The  effect  of  the  operations  of  these  adventurers 
and  speculators  in  farming,  under  the  power  of  capi- 
tal and  cheap  labor,  is  not  confined  to  the  sections  in 


70  LAND  AND  LABOR. 

which  they  have  had  their  greatest  development,  but 
covers  our  whole  country  and  is  revolutionizing  Eu- 
rope. Throughout  our  land  there  is  a  marked  decad- 
ence in  small  farming,  with  increase  of  poverty  and 
distress  among  the  farmers.  So  long  as  the  farmer 
could  find  a  ready  market  for  his  products,  at  good 
prices,  that  was  indicated  by  wheat  when  in  demand 
upon  the  farm  at  one  dollar  and  a  quarter  to  one  dol- 
lar and  fifty  cents  the  bushel,  he  prospered.  When 
Mr.  Dalrymple  was  compelled  to  pay  two  dollars  a 
bushel  for  his  seed  wheat,  and  sold  his  crop  for  one 
dollar  and  eighty-three  cents,  not  only  did  he  but  all 
classes  prospered  —  none  more  than  the  merchant  and 
capitalist.  But  now,  when  wheat  upon  the  farm  will 
command  only  from  fifty  to  seventy  cents  a  bushel, 
not  only  are  the  small  farmers  of  our  country  being 
ruined,  but  the  farmers  of  England  are  being  de- 
stroyed, and  the  agriculture  of  that  country,  also,  is 
dragged  to  inevitable  demoralization. 

By  the  impoverishment  of  our  farmers  we  are  ena- 
bled to  "  beneficently  compete  "  with  the  English  far- 
mer, and  sell  wheat  in  that  country  at  less  than  one 
dollar  a  bushc-l,  with  profit  to  the  foreign  merchant 
and  carrier,  when  the  absolute  cost  to  the  British 
agriculturist  to  raise  it  is  not  less  than  one  dollar 
and  a  half — our  farmers  raising  but  twenty  bushels 
to  the  acre  where  the  English  farmers  grow  thirty. 
The  result  is,  that  by  one  and  the  same  operation  the 
small  farm  interest  in  the  United  States,  and  the  gen- 
(  nil  fanning  interests  of  Great  Britain  arc  both  de- 
stroyed. Both  countries  arc  being  dragged  into  revo- 
lution, and  the  only  interests  that  derive  even  an 


THE  BONANZA  FARMS.  71 

apparent  and  temporary  benefit  in  the  midst  of  this 
general  destruction  are  the  bonanza  farmers  of  our 
own  country,  with  the  foreign  merchants  in  both,  and 
the  ocean  carriers. 

Whilst  we  are  doing  all  these  things  it  may  be  well 
for  us  to  remember  that  we  arc  giving  to  our  Trans- 
Atlantic  brethren  some  lessons  in  agriculture  that  it 
would  be  most  strange  if  they  did  not  improve  upon. 
The  adoption  and  use  of  our  machines  and  methods 
in  England  and  Ireland,  in  Hungary  and  Russia,  in 
France,  in  Germany,  and  in  India,  will  produce  the 
same  results  in  those  countries  as  in  this.  Capital, 
machinery,  and  cheap  labor  will  grow  wheat  at  a  cost 
of  sixteen  to  twenty  cents  a  bushel,  for  all  the  expen- 
ses of  seed  and  labor  in  cultivating  and  harvesting,  as 
well  in  Europe  as  in  America.  Already  do  those 
countries  possess  cheap  labor  in  the  greatest  abun- 
dance, with  capital  and  the  lands  concentrated  in  the 
hands  of  the  few.  The  only  other  requisites  wanting 
are  the  proper  machinery  and  management.  We 
stand  ready  to  furnish  both  if  they  are  not  to  be 
found  at  home. 

How  long  will  it  be  before  those  peoples  will  learn 
these  things  and  begin  to  act  upon  the  knowledge  ? 
How  long  before  the  obstructing  hedges,  ditches,  cab- 
ins, tenant  houses,  and  numerous  subdivisions  —  all 
that  prevents  that  enlargement  of  fields  that  will  give 
scope  for  the  use  of  the  most  effective  machinery  — 
will  be  removed,  with  the  people  who  now  occupy  and 
cultivate  the  soil?  How  long  before  we  shall  see 
those  lands  planted,  and  sown,  and  harvested  by  the 
same  methods  as  are  the  bonanza  farms  of  the  West, 


72  LAND  AND  LABOR. 

with  the  same  want  of  fixed  population  and  the  same 
war  upon  women  and  children  ?  Under  the  opera- 
tions of  our  "beneficent  competition,"  that  we  are 
forcing  upon  them,  they  will  most  certainly  learn  and 
act.  Indeed,  the  work  has  already  commenced. 

The  large  development  of  the  tenant  system  of 
farming  is  also  an  evil  of  the  greatest  magnitude,  and 
a  direct  inheritance  from  the  feudal  system  of  Europe, 
utterly  opposed  to  the  whole  spirit  of  our  institutions. 
But  with  us  it  has  obtained  features  worse  than  any 
now  existing  in  Europe.  The  tenants  in  England 
hold  leases  and  occupations  that  often  and  practically 
run  for  life,  and  have  been  held  in  families  for  genera- 
tions, which  gave  encouragement  for  improvements. 
The  holdings  were  practically  homesteads.  But  with 
us  the  leases  are  uniformly  for  short  terms,  when  tak- 
en ;  the  holdings  are  generally  from  year  to  year,  with 
no  encouragement  for  improvements,  and  the  farms 
are  never  deemed  to  be  homes.  In  England  the  rent 
rarely  reached  and  never  exceeded  one  fourth  the  gross 
product.  But  in  the  United  States  it  is  commonly 
one  half.  Under  the  English  tenant  system  the  land 
is  thoroughly  cultivated  and  improved  ;  with  us  it  is 
simply  skinned  and  impoverished.  There  is  not  one 
]•••(! i  •••ming  feature  in  the  whole  system. 

It  is  evident  from  this  statement  of  some  of  the  ef- 
fects that  directly  grow  out  of  the  combination  of  cap- 
ital,  machinery,  and  cheap  labor  in  the  cultivation  of 
large  bodies  of  land  by  individuals,  companies,  and 
corporations,  that  there  has  developed  a  system  of  ag- 
riculture that  is  in  "  irrepressible  conflict "  with  the 
best  interests  of  society,  and  must  result  in  the  de- 


THE  BONANZA  FARMS.  73 

struction  of  one  or  the  other.  The  duration  of  this 
conflict  can  be  measured  only  by  the  elasticity  of  so- 
ciety, and  the  power  of  endurance  and  patience  of  the 
people.  But  in  the  final  struggle  that  is  sure  to  come 
there  can  be  little  doubt  of  the  result.  That  the  con- 
flict may  be  averted  by  wise  measures  there  can  be  no 
doubt.  But  our  capitalistic  leaders  and  shapers  of 
legislation  are  as  blind  and  as  stubborn  as  the  Bour- 
bons of  France,  and  it  is  a  grave  question  whether  the 
remedy  that  cured  in  some  respects  similar  evils  in 
that  country  must  not  also  be  applied  in  this. 


CHAPTER  III. 

GROWTH  AND  DEVELOPMENT  OF  BONANZA  AND 
TENANT  FARMS. 

SOME  of  the  press  titterings  with  regard  to  the 
operations  of  the  bonanza  farms,  at  the  time  I 
first  called  attention  to  the  matter,  in  the  pages  of 
the  Atlantic  Monthly,  appeared  to  have  the  design 
of  hiding  the  facts,  belittleing  the  development,  and 
ridiculing  any  anxiety  that  might  be  excited.  It  was 
declared  to  be  a  movement  of  very  limited  extent,  of 
temporary  duration,  that  would  leave  no  permanent 
effects. 

An  examination  of  the  census  reports  for  1860,  "70, 
and  '80  will  serve  to  show  how  limited  is  its  extent, 
and  whether  it  challenges  attention  or  should  be  alto- 
gether ignored  ;  or,  rather,  be  flattered  and  extolled 
as  one  of  the  most  beneficent  developments  of  the  age. 

The  census  reports  unfortunately  give  the  data  for 
only  one  part  of  the  inquiry,  that  touching  the  in- 
crease in  number.  Of  the  size  of  those  great  food 
factories  and  monopolies,  beyond  the  statement  that 
they  are  of  "  1,000  acres  and  over,"  they  give  no  in- 
formation. Yet  these  holdings,  by  individuals  alone, 
range  up  into  hundreds  of  thousands,  and  in  one  in- 
stance, at  least,  into  millions  of  acres  ;  and  when  held 

74 


£HE  BONANZA  FARMS.  75 

by  companies  and  corporations  they  do  not  diminish 
in  size,  as  shown  in  the  following  chapter. 

In  1860  the  number  of  farms  of  500  acres  and  less 
than  1,000  in  the  free  States,  was  3,472  ;  in  1870,  in 
the  same  States,  the  number  was  6,951.  In  the  year 
1860  the  number  of  farms  of  1,000  acres  and  over,  in 
the  free  States,  was  791  ;  in  1870,  the  number  was 
1,507.  Showing  that  in  the  decade  from  1860  to  70 
the  farms  of  500  acres  and  less  than  1,000  more  than 
doubled,  while  those  of  1,000  acres  and  over  increased 
ninety  and  one  half  per  cent.  But  taking  the  whole 
country  for  two  decades  we  find  that  the  ten  years  be- 
tween 1870  and  1880  have  been  marked  by  a  gigantic 
growth  of  the  large  farm  interest. 

In  1860  the  whole  number  of  farms  of  500  acres 
and  less  than  1,000  in  the  United  States,  was  20,319  ; 
in  1870,  the  number  was  15,873 ;  in  1880,  75,972. 
Of  the  1,000  acre  farms  and  over,  there  were,  in  1860, 
5,364;  in  1870,  3,720  ;  and  in  1880,  28,578.  By  this 
exhibit  it  is  seen  that  in  the  decade  from  1860  to  1870 
there  was  a  decrease  in  the  number  of  both  of  these 
classes  of  farms  of  about  one  fourth.  This  decrease 
was  confined  to  the  late  slave  States,  where  many  of 
the  large  plantations  had  been  broken  up  and  gone  into 
the  possession  of  the  late  slaves  as  tenants,  and  all  the 
separate  holdings  were  returned  in  the  census  of  1870 
as  distinct  farms.  But  it  is  shown  that  during  the 
last  ten  years  the  increase  in  the  number  of  the 
smaller  bonanza  farms  was  nearly  seven  fold  ;  while 
in  the  monster  farms  that  are  represented  in  the  cen- 
sus reports  as  "  of  1,000  acres  and  over,"  the  increase 
has  been  nearly  eight  fold.  They  are  simply  huge 


76  LAND  AND  LABOR. 

food  factories,  whose  productions  are  brought  into 
direct  competition  with  the  small  farmer,  as  were  the 
cotton  and  woolen  factories  fifty  years  ago  brought 
into  competition  with  the  household  spinning  wheels 
and  looms  of  our  mothers,  and  with  the  same  result. 
The  small  farmer  is  also  being  crushed  out.  He  is 
becoming  a  mere  laborer  to  run  the  machines  of  the 
bonanza  farms,  or  as  a  tramp  to  be  reviled  and  cursed 
of  all  men. 

Thus  are  tens  of  thousands  of  square  miles  of  our 
best  agricultural  lands  seized  upon  by  the  power  of 
capital  and  monopoly,  in  the  hands  of  individuals, 
companies,  and  corporations,  upon  which  no  one  is 
permitted  the  right  of  making  a  home,  or  in  any  way 
obtaining  an  assured  subsistence.  But  whilst  these 
things  are  developing  in  one  part  of  our  country,  in 
other  sections  are  also  square  miles  of  territory  upon 
each  of  which  are  crowded  and  packed  from  fifty  to 
more  than  one  hundred  thousand  souls,  living  in  a 
state  of  wretchedness  that  beggars  description.  In 
New  York  City  five  contiguous  square  miles  of  terri- 
tory may  be  found  upon  which  are  crammed  not  less 
than  six  hundred  thousand  human  beings,  sweltering 
and  rotting  in  their  misery,  and  sprouting  the  germs 
of  anarchy  and  destruction.  New  York  is  by  no  means 
the  only  city  thus  afflicted  ;  it  is  simply  preeminent. 

There  arc  the  people  who  should  be  occupying  and 
holding  those  great  tracts  in  small  homesteads,  build- 
ing up  a  mighty  people  rich  in  all  the  comforts  of  life, 
and  expending  upon  the  soil  and  in  the  section  that 
supports  them  the  means  which  they  obtain  by  its 
cultivation  and  development,  instead  of  being  foun  1 


THE  TENANT  FARMS.  77 

in  our  manufacturing  towns  and  cities,  swarming  in 
poverty  and  wretchedness  in  tenement  houses  and 
hovels,  and  in  the  tramps  that  fill  the  country. 

There  is  another  stupendous  evil  that  has  grown 
out  of  the  developments  of  the  last  half  century.  In- 
stead of  being  able  to  boast,  as  could  our  fathers,  that 
every  man  who  tilled  the  soil  was  lord  of  the  manor 
he  occupied,  owning  no  master,  the  last  census  report 
made  a  return  of  1,024,701  tenant  farms  in  our  coun- 
try in  1880.  Since  the  taking  of  the  census  the  in- 
crease can  not  have  been  less  than  twenty-five  per 
cent.,  giving  at  this  time  not  less  than  one  and  a 
quarter  millions  of  tenant  farms  in  the  United  States. 

A  comparison  of  this  showing  with  the  land  hold- 
ings of  Great  Britain  and  Ireland  will  help  to  a  bet- 
ter understanding  of  what  these  things  import.  The 
very  latest  statistics  give  the  total  number  of  hold- 
ings in  England  and  Wales  at  414,804 ;  in  Ireland, 
at  574,222 ;  in  Scotland,  at  80,101 :  total,  1,069,127. 
Showing,  that  in  the  whole  of  Great  Britain  and  Ire- 
land, counting  all  the  holdings  as  tenant  occupations, 
which  they  are  not,  there  are  200,000  less  tenant 
farms  than  in  the  United  States. 

Among  the  owners  of  the  tenant  farms  in  our  coun- 
try are  English,  French,  anti  German  capitalists,  non- 
residents, who  have  bought  immense  tracts  of  the  rail- 
road lands,  and  seized  upon  the  alternate  government 
sections  lying  within  their  railroad  purchases,  and  on 
those  tracts  have  commenced  their  bonanza  opera- 
tions, or  planted  their  tenants  on  the  American  sys- 
tem. Among  others  mentioned  in  the  chapter  on 
bonanza  farms,  will  be  found  the  great  German 


78  LAND  AND  LABOR. 

banker,  Goldsmidt,  of  Frankfort  on  the  Main.  The 
New  York  Tribune,  of  December  15,  1882,  gives  a 
very  recent  case  in  the  following  brief  item  :  — 

PUBCHASE   OF   COTTON  LANDS   IN   ARKANSAS. 

';  LITTLE  ROCK,  Ark.,  Dec.  14.  —  A  European  company,  head- 
ed by  Benjamin  Newgas,  of  Liverpool,  has  purchased  100,000 
acres  of  cotton  lands  in  Arkansas  and  Chicot  Counties." 

A  still  later  mention  of  similar  transactions  is  found 
in  the  following  paragraph  clipped  from  the  Philadel- 
phia Ledger,  of  January  26, 1883  :  — 

"  British  capital  is  finding  its  way  into  western  and  north- 
western agricultural  and  stockraising  enterprises  with  a  free- 
dom and  a  magnitude  that  certainly  imply  an  unbounded  con- 
fidence in  their  future.  It  is  not  surprising,  perhaps,  that  our 
Wall  street  men  have  had  their  attention  arrested  by  it,  and  are 
disposed  to  accept  it  as  an  indication  that  John  Bull  is  growing 
indifferent  to  western  mining  undertakings,  and  is  now  disposed 
to  put  his  surplus  capital  into  something  that  promises  to  be 
less  elusive.  That  is  the  view  they  take  of  it  at  the  Mining 
Exchange,  where  much  importance  is  attached  to  a  letter  in 
yesterday's  Chicago  Tribune,  from  Ogden,  Utah,  which  says: 
4  Great  cattle  corporations,  like  the  railroad  monopolies  East, 
are  busily  engaged  in  filling  up  all  unsettled  territory,  and 
rapidly  swallowing  all  the  smaller  fish  in  the  business.'  The 
same  letter  adds:  'A.  H.  Swan,  of  Swan  Bros.,  has  just  received 
(January  22d)  a  cablegram  from  parties  in  Edinburgh,  Scotland, 
who  have  been  negotiating  the  largest  transaction  for  many 
years  in  their  trade,  requesting  him  to  come  immediately,  with 
full  power  to  close  the  bargain.  He  will  sail  next  week.'  The 
sale  is  a  transfer  of  07,000  head  of  cattle  and  a  few  hundred 
horses  —  the  consideration  being  ,$2,500,000.? 

These  items  are  merely  indicators  of  what  has  al- 


THE  TENANT  FARMS.  79 

ready  become  a  gigantic  movement  in  the  interest  of 
alien  capitalists. 

Throughout  all  the  older  States,  as  in  the  new,  the 
American  plutocrat  indulges  in  the  peculiar  luxury 
of  the  old  feudal  barons  of  Europe,  in  being  able  to 
count  his  tenants  by  scores  and  by  hundreds.  Among 
the  number  is  the  late  Acting  Vice  President  of  the 
United  States,  who  has  his  tenant  farms  scattered 
throughout  the  central  part  of  the  State  of  Illinois. 
As  illustrative  of  the  general  prevalence  of  this  feudal 
relic  in  our  country  I  will  here  call  special  attention 
to  a  few  only  of  the  older  States  in  the  north  and 
west,  without  reference  to  the  Southern  States,  where 
it  might  be  said  that  their  presence  is  the  natural  out- 
growth of  the  old  slave  system.  In  the  State  of  Illi- 
nois the  census  of  1880  gives  80,244  tenant  farms  ;  in 
Ohio,  47,627 ;  in  New  York,  39,872  ;  in  New  Jersey, 
8,438  ;  and  in  California,  7,124.  Every  State  and 
Territory  in  the  Union  furnishes  its  quota,  generally 
numbered  by  thousands. 

The  condition  of  the  tenant  farmers  in  this  country 
is  also  far  worse  than  is  that  of  the  much  pitied  ten- 
ant farmers  of  Great  Britain  and  Ireland.  There  the 
tenant  farmer  pays  his  rent  with  one  fourth  of  his 
crop ;  here  it  takes  one  half  (ranging  from  one  third 
to  two  thirds).  There  the  tenant  farmer  is  usually  a 
capitalist ;  here  he  is  but  little  removed  from  the  con- 
dition of  a  pauper.  There  the  tenant  farmer  has  a 
comfortable  dwelling  and  farm  buildings ;  here  he 
has  usually  a  miserable  house  only,  or  hovel,  without 
one  comfort,  or,  as  in  many  instances,  a  hole  in  the 
ground. 


80  LAND  AND  LABOR. 

Adam  Smith  describes,  as  follows,  a  condition  of 
agriculture  that  formerly  existed  in  Europe  almost 
exactly  like  our  present  system  of  tenant  farming  :  — 

"  In  the  ancient  state  of  Europe  the  occupiers  of  land  were 
all  tenants  at  will.  They  were  all,  or  almost  all,  slaves ;  but 
their  slavery  was  of  a  milder  kind  than  that  known  among  the 
ancient  Greeks  and  Romans,  or  even  in  our  West  Indian  colo- 
nies   To  the  slave  cultivators  of  ancient  times  gradu- 
ally succeeded  a  species  of  farming  known  at  present  [1770]  in 
France  by  the  name  of  Metayers.  They  are  called  in  Latin  Co- 
loni  Partiarii.  They  have  been  so  long  in  disuse  in  England 
that  at  present  I  know  no  English  name  for  them.  The  pro- 
prietors furnished  them  with  the  seed,  cattle,  and  instruments 
of  husbandly,  the  whole  stock  [capital],  in  short,  necessary  for 
cultivating  the  farm.  The  produce  was  divided  equally  be- 
tween the  proprietor  and  the  farmer,  after  setting  aside  what 
was  judged  necessary  for  keeping  up  the  stock,  which  was  re- 
stored to  the  proprietor  when  the  farmer  either  quitted  or  was 
turned  out  of  the  farm." 

He  further  writes  :  — 

"Land  occupied  by  such  tenants  is  properly  cultivated  at 
the  expense  of  the  proprietor  as  much  as  that  occupied  by 

slaves That  tenure  in  villanage  gradually  wore  out 

through  the  greater  part  of  Europe.  The  time  and  manner, 
however,  in  which  so  important  a  revolution  was  brought  about 
is  one  of  the  most  obscure  points  in  modern  history.  The 
church  of  Rome  claims  great  merit  in  it;  and  it  is  certain  that 
so  early  as  the  twelfth  century,  Alexander  III  published  a  bull 

for  the  general  emancipation  of  slaves In  France  live 

parts  out  of  six  of  the  whole  kingdom  are  said  to  be  still  [1770] 
occupied  by  this  species  of  cultivators."—  Wealth  of  Nation*. 

II<  re  we  have  the  most  positive  evidence  that  even 
in  Europe,  in  her  darkest  period,  our  system  of  tenant 


THE  TENANT  FARMS.  81 

farming  was  deemed  to  be  a  slavery  too  oppressive  to 
be  endured.  But  a  more  perfect  picture  of  the  condi- 
tions under  which  much  the  larger  portion  of  the  ten- 
ant farmers  in  our  country  hold  their  places  could  not 
well  be  drawn.  The  only  points  of  difference  between 
the  tenures  of  the  Metayers  of  the  nineteenth  cen- 
tury, under  the  government  of  the  United  States,  and 
those  under  the  feudal  lords,  are,  that  now,  in  some 
cases  the  proprietors  do  not  furnish  the  entire  stock, 
or  capital ;  that  the  tenants  often  furnish  all,  or  a 
portion,  of  the  farm  implements,  or  work  stock,  or 
both,  and  also  of  the  seed  ;  but  still  the  proprietors, 
like  their  feudal  brethren,  assuredly  claim  and  take 
one  half^of  the  product.  But  the  share  now  received 
by  the  proprietors  is  not  absolutely  uniform,  it  rang- 
ing between  one  and  two  thirds,  still  averaging  about 
one  half.  Yet  in  all  the  points  in  which  the  Ameri- 
can system  of  villanage  differs  from  that  of  the  feudal 
ages  in  Europe,  the  present  tenant  slave  suffers.  The 
only  advantage  which  the  Metayer  of  to-day  has  over 
his  brother  of  a  thousand  years  ago,  is  not  in  a  modi- 
fication of  the  system,  but  in  the  fact  that  the  tools 
now  used  are  more  effective,  and  he  can  produce  a 
greater  quantity  to  be  divided,  and  thus  obtain  more 
subsistence  for  himself,  though  no  greater  share  of  the 
product.  But  for  this  only  advantage  the  tenant  is 
in  no  way  indebted  to  the  proprietor. 

It  is  true  that  there  have  been  cases  where  tenants, 
farming  on  shares  and  paying  one  half  of  their  crops 
for  rent,  have  been  able  to  so  improve  their  conditions 
as  to  become  themselves  proprietors.  But  such  cases 
are  found  only  under  the  most  favorable  circumstances 


82  LAND  AND  LABOR. 

of  high  prices  and  great  demand,  as  during  and  short- 
ly after  the  war  of  the  rebellion,  and  have  been  so 
rare  as  to  excite  general  comment ;  they  in  no  sense 
represent  usual  conditions.  The  general  facts  are, 
that  great  destitution  and  constant  want  mark  the  lot 
of  that  class  of  farmers.  Even  the  payment  of  tithes 
has  ever  been  considered  a  burden  too  great  to  be 
borne  by  the  agriculturist ;  and  the  one  fifth  to  one 
fourth  of  his  crop  paid  by  the  English  farmer  for 
rent  is  a  principal  cause  of  the  agitations  now  threat- 
ening the  existence  of  the  English  government.  But 
however  great  may  have  been  the  burdens  of  the  tith- 
ing system,  or  of  the  English  tenants,  those  of  the 
tenant  farmers  in  the  United  States  are  five  times 
greater  than  in  the  one  case,  and  twice  as  great  as  in 
the  other. 

Still  the  notable  fact  remains,  that  the  system  of 
slavery  against  which  Pope  Alexander  issued  his  bull, 
in  the  feudal  age  of  Europe,  exists  in  gigantic  propor- 
tions on  the  soil  of  the  United  States.  Here  we  nurse 
and  protect  by  our  laws  a  system  of  villanage  too  odi- 
ous to  be  endured  in  most  of  Europe  in  her  darkest 
days  of  barbarism,  and  against  which  the  church  of 
Home  hurled  its  thunders  seven  hundred  years  ago. 
But  though  the  Metayer  system  long  since  went  grad- 
ually out  of  use  in  most  of  Europe,  it  was  continued 
in  France  till  the  last  quarter  of  the  past  century, 
when  it  found  its  end  in  the  horrors  of  the  revolution 
of  1793,  which  it  provoked,  and  of  which  the  guillotin 
:lic  avmLT'T. 

The  following  is  a  tabulated  statement  of  the  nuin- 
!>'  r  <>t'  l«  nant  farms  in  each  State  and  Territory  of  the 


THE  TENANT  FARMS. 


83 


United  States,  as  compiled  from  the  Bulletins  of  the 
Census  Bureau  for  1880,  and  showing  the  number  for 
that  year. 

NUMBER   OP   TENANT   FARMS   IN   THE   UNITED   STATES. 


Money 

SJutre 

Money 

Share 

Rent. 

Rent. 

Rent. 

Rent. 

Alabama, 

22,888 

40,761 

Missouri, 

19,843 

39,029 

Arkansas, 

9,916 

19,272 

Montana, 

17 

63 

Arizona, 

42 

59 

Nebraska, 

1,943 

9,476 

California, 

3,209 

3,915 

Nevada, 

63 

73 

Colorado, 

165 

419 

New  Hampshire, 

1,237 

1,378 

Connecticut, 

1,920 

1,206 

New  Jersey, 

3,608 

4,830 

Dakota, 

72 

606 

New  Mexico, 

22 

386 

Delaware, 

511 

3,197 

New  York, 

18,124 

21,748 

Dist.  of  Columbia,    150 

60 

North  Carolina, 

8,644 

44,078 

Florida, 

3,548 

3,692 

Ohio, 

14,834 

32,793 

Georgia, 

18,557 

43,618 

Oregon, 

748 

1,538 

Idaho, 

32 

57 

Pennsylvania, 

17,049 

28,273 

Illinois, 

20,620 

59,624 

Rhode  Island, 

989 

247 

Indiana, 

8,582 

37,468 

South  Carolina, 

21,974 

25,245 

Iowa, 

8,421 

35,753 

Tennessee, 

19,266 

37,930 

Kansas, 

4,438 

18,213 

Texas, 

12,089 

53,379 

Kentucky, 

16,824 

27,203 

Utah, 

60 

373 

Louisiana, 

6,669 

10,337 

Yermont, 

2,164 

2,598 

Maine, 

1,628 

1,153 

Yirginia, 

13,392 

21,594 

Maryland, 

3,878 

8,661 

"Washington, 

209 

262 

Massachusetts, 

2,292 

848 

West  Yirginia, 

4,292 

7,709 

Michigan, 

5,015 

10,396 

"Wisconsin, 

3,719 

8,440 

Minnesota, 

1,251 

IT    A  A  A 

7,202 

OT    1  1  Q 

Wyoming, 

5 

8 

United  States,  322,357    702,244 

The  evidence  is  indisputable  that  we  have  resur- 
rected and  are  rapidly  developing  a  slavery  from  out 
of  the  feudal  barbarisms  of  Europe,  and  which  has 
there  long  been  dead.  But  that  with  us  it  already 
numbers  within  its  bonds  more  souls  than  did  that 


84  LAND  AND  LABOR. 

slavery  which  cost  us  four  years  of  war  and  half  a  mil- 
lion lives  to  wipe  out.  Will  it  be  necessary  to  repeat 
that  operation  ?  If  it  should  prove  to  be  so,  upon 
whom  will  the  bolts  of  destruction  surely  fall  ? 

These  tenant  farms  are  fast  developing  throughout 
the  whole  extent  of  our  country,  east,  west,  north,  and 
south ;  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific,  from  the 
British  possessions  to  the  Mexican  line.  They,  as 
also  the  great  bonanza  farms,  are  mainly  the  growth 
of  the  last  twenty  years,  and  are  multiplying  with 
marvellous  rapidity. 

The  great  source  of  accretion  to  the  number  of  ten- 
ant farms,  in  the  older  States,  and  to  a  large  extent 
in  the  newer,  also,  is  found  in  the  fact  that,  under 
present  conditions  of  competition  and  low  prices,  the 
small  farm  can  not  be  made  to  support  the  family  in 
anything  like  comfort,  and  the  head  of  the  household 
is  compelled  to  resort  to  credit  to  obtain  the  necessa- 
ries of  life,  waiving  all  the  comforts.  This  method 
once  adopted  is  the  sure  beginning  of  the  end.  An 
interest  account  is  established  ;  more  credit  is  required 
and  obtained ;  a  mortgage  is  given  ;  the  interest  ac- 
count is  increased  ;  the  burdens  and  struggles  for  ex- 
istence are  multiplied,  whilst  the  difficulties  growing 
out  of  competition,  cheapness,  and  bad  harvests  are 
constantly  increasing,  until  the  time  is  reached  when 
the  interest  can  no  longer  be  paid.  Then  follows  fore- 
closure, execution,  and  sale.  Another  farm  is  added 
to  the  tenant  roll,  and  another  household  to  the  list 
of  tenant  occupants,  or  to  the  armies  of  town  or  city 
sufferers.  These  operations  are  going  on  all  over  the 
country. 


THE  TENANT  FARMS.  85 

Could  the  facts  be  definitely  ascertained  I  have  not 
the  least  doubt  that  they  would  show  that  at  least 
fifty  per  cent,  of  the  small  farm  ownerships  in  the 
older  States  are  merely  nominal.  That  that  number, 
at  least,  of  the  small  farmers  in  those  States,  are  so 
deeply  in  debt,  so  covered  by  mortgages,  that  their 
supreme  effort  is  to  pay  the  constantly  accruing  inter- 
est, that  a  roof  may  be  kept  over  the  heads  of  the 
family  —  an  effort  that  can  have  but  the  one  ending. 

In  the  newer  States  are  found  a  similar  condition 
of  things.  The  only  difference  is,  that  there  the  small 
farmer  is  usually  compelled  to  comnience  with  what, 
to  him,  is  a  mountain  of  debt.  He  must  obtain  his 
land  upon  deferred  payments,  drawing  interest,  and 
can  obtain  no  title  until  those  deferred  payments, 
with  the  interest,  are  paid  in  full.  He  must  also  ob- 
tain his  farm  implements  on  part  credit,  with  interest, 
for  which  he  mortgages  his  crops.  Credit  must  help 
him  to  his  farm  stock,  his  hovel,  his  seed,  his  food, 
his  clothing.  With  this  load  of  debt  must  the  small 
farmer  in  the  newer  States  commence,  if  he  is  not  a 
capitalist,  or  he  can  not  even  make  a  beginning.  With 
such  a  commencement  the  common  ending  is  not  long 
in  being  found. 

In  traveling  through  those  sections  one  of  the  most 
notable  things  that  meets  the  attention  of  the  observer 
is  the  great  number  of  publications,  everywhere  met 
with,  devoted  exclusively  to  the  advertising  of  small 
farm  holdings,  more  or  less  improved,  that  are  for 
sale.  One  is  almost  forced  to  the  conclusion  that  the 
entire  class  of  small  farmers  are  compelled,  from  some 
cause,  to  find  the  best  and  quickest  market  that  can 


86  LAND  AND  LABOR. 

be  obtained,  for  all  that  they  possess.  A  reference  to 
the  chapter  on  "  The  Bonanza  Farms  "  will  be  found 
instructive  in  this  connection. 

The  entire  agricultural  regions  of  our  country  are 
crowded  with  loan  agents,  representing  capital  from 
all  the  great  money  centers  of  the  world,  who  are 
making  loans  and  taking  mortgages  upon  the  forms 
to  an  amount  that,  in  the  aggregate,  appears  to  be 
almost  beyond  calculation.  In  this  movement  the 
local  capitalists,  lawyers,  and  traders,  appear  as  active 
coworkers.  During  the  past  season,  whilst  a  short 
time  in  St.  Lawrence  County,  New  York,  I  learned 
of  one  Hebrew  trader,  about  forty  years  of  age,  in 
Ogdensburg,  who,  as  reported,  first  made  his  appear- 
ance in  that  city  with  a  pack  upon  his  back,  that  had, 
through  trade,  liberal  credit  to  the  farmers,  interest, 
mortgages,  and  foreclosures,  become  the  owner  of  six- 
teen farms,  occupied  by  that  number  of  tenants.  A 
lawyer  was  pointed  out  who,  by  similar  processes,  was 
the  owner  of  ten  farms  ;  and  others  in  lesser  degree. 

These  results  mark  the  growth  of  what  one  of  our 
ablest  men  most  truly  terms  "  the  towering  tyranny 
of  capital,"  and  what  another,  a  popular  political 
economist,  insanely  calls  "the  beneficent  action  of 
competition."  Here  is  exhibited  a  development  in 
the  monopoly  of  the  lands  of  our  country,  and  an  ex- 
tension of  the  tenant  system,  that  dwarfs  to  littleness 
any  tiling  that  the  world  has  before  witnessed.  In 
England  the  proudest  of  her  aristocrats,  the  mightiest 
of  her  nobility,  her  greatest  landlords,  find  their  limits 
of  possession  a  long  way  within  two  hundred  thousand 
acres,  and  there  are  but  three  who  hold  more  than  one 


THE  TENANT  FARMS.  87 

hundred  thousand  acres  each.  But  in  our  country 
the  possessions  of  individual  capitalists  pass  far  be- 
yond the  hundreds  of  thousands  into  the  millions  of 
acres,  and  the  corporations  into  the  tens  of  millions. 

The  tenant  system  of  Great  Britain  has  been  the 
growth  of  ages  —  of  more  than  a  thousand  years  — 
fashioned  and  welded  by  the  bloody  swords  and  law- 
less brutalities  of  generations  of  robber  barons  and 
rulers  who  governed  only  to  plunder ;  whose  unwrit- 
ten law  was,  "  let  him  get  who  hath  the  power,,  and 
let  him  keep  who  can."  But  with  us  the  tenant  sys- 
tem is  the  growth  of  only  about  a  /  quarter  of  a  cen- 
tury, under  the  operations  of  written  law,  and  already 
it  has  reached  a  magnitude  that  belittles  the  work  of 
the  feudal  barons. 

Surely  the  little  finger  of  our  plutocracy  has  become 
thicker  for  evil,  mightier  for  crushing,  than  was  ever 
the  loins  of  baronial  power  in  the  time  of  its  greatest 
strength. 


CHAPTER  IV. 


ENGLISH   AND   AMERICAN   LAND   HOLDINGS  AND   RAIL- 
ROAD  LAND   GRANTS. 

THE  following  is  a  list  of  the  whole  number  of 
land  owners  in  England  and  Wales  who  are 
possessed  of  50,000  and  more  acres  of  land  each,  and 
the  actual  amount  of  their  holdings,  by  which  it  will 
be  seen  that  there  are  but  three  who  own  more  than 
100,000  acres  each,  and  no  one  has  an  estate  that 
reaches  200,000  acres. 


SIZE   OF   ENGLISH  LAND   HOLDINGS. 


Names  of  Owners.  Acres. 

Marquis  of  Ailesbury,  55,051 

Duke  of  Beaufort,  51,085 

"       Bedford,  87,507 

Earl  of  Brownlow,  57,799 

"      Carlisle,  78,540 

»*      Cawdor,  51,538 

Duke  of  Cleveland,  106,650 

Earl  of  Derby,  56,598 

Duke  of  Devonshire,  148,629 

Lord  Leconficld,  66,101 


Names  of  Owners. 
Lord  Londesborough, 
Earl  of  Lonsdale, 
Duke  of  Northumber- 
land, 

Duke  of  Portland, 
Earl  of  Powis, 
Duke  of  Rutland, 
Lady  Willoughby, 
Sir  W.  W.  Wynn, 
Earl  of  Yarborough, 


Acres. 
52,655 
67,950 

191,480 
55,259 
64,095 
70,039 
59,912 
91,032 
55,370 


1'iit  in  the  United  States  we  have  a  saw  maker,  in 
Philadelphia,  with  his  four  million  acres  ;  two  butch- 
ers in  California  with  their  eight  hundred  thousand 

88 


GREAT  AMERICAN  LAND  HOLDINGS.        89 

.and  more  acres  ;  a  cattle  raiser  in  New  Mexico  with 
his  seven  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  acres  ;  and 
numbers  of  them  in  Texas  whose  acres  are  counted 
by  hundreds  of  thousands.  In  the  great  Northwest 
the  land  holdings  for  agricultural  purposes  —  for 
grain,  grass,  and  vegetables  —  by  hundreds,  range 
to  fifty  thousand  acres  and  upwards,  occupied  by 
tenants  or  machinery,  or  by  both.  The  whole  coun- 
try, from  the  Mississippi  to  the  Pacific,  is  dotted  — 
no,  they  are  not  dots  —  is  patched  with  these  huge 
holdings.  In  comparison  with  the  monopoly  of  the 
lands  here  shown,  that  of  the  English  landlords  ap- 
pears quite  insignificant.  And  yet  we  are  only  in  the 
third  decade  of  our  movement. 

One  of  the  great  sources  of  supply  for  this  mon- 
strous monopoly  is  found  in  the  railroad  land  grants 
that  have  been  so  lavishly  made  by  the  general  gov- 
ernment, in  tracts  of  tens  of  millions  of  acres  each. 

But  there  are  other  sources  in  almost  every  State 
in  the  Union.  New  Hampshire  has  shown  her  power 
of  development  in  this  direction  up  to  two  hundred 
and  fifty  thousand  acres  in  the  hands  of  one  company. 
Texas  is  lavish  in  the  creation  of  single  holdings,  indi- 
vidual and  coparcenary,  all  through  the  hundreds  of 
thousands  to  near  the  millions  of  acres.  Florida 
wanders  wildly  in  the  millions  of  acres  in  her  grants. 
Virginia,  Tennessee,  Georgia,  New  York,  and  other 
States  do  not  let  slip  any  opportunities  by  which 
these  monopolies  may  be  created. 

For  every  purpose  for  which  lands  can  be  used, 
whether  for  denudation  of  their  timber  for  foreign 
export  and  home  consumption,  for  cultivation,  or  for 


90  LAND  AND  LABOR. 

grazing  —  for  use  or  waste  —  the  spirit  of  monopoly 
has  become  uppermost.  But  the  most  destructive 
and  indefensible  of  all  steps  in  this  direction  have 
been  taken  by  the  general  government. 

More  than  twenty  years  ago  Congress  devised  and 
perfected  a  Public  Land  System  by  which  the  public 
domain  was  set  apart  for  the  benefit  of  the  people. 
It  was  a  measure  that  guaranteed  to  every  child  of 
the'soil  a  portion  of  the  heritage  of  our  fathers,  effec- 
tually barring  monopoly  and  excluding  the  nonresi- 
dent alien  and  all  who  had  not  taken  the  prescribed 
steps  to  become  citizens.  It  was  a  solemn  compact 
between  the  government  and  people.  By  the  provi- 
sions of  that  system  the  lands  of  the  nation,  as  they 
were  surveyed,  became  subject  to  preemption  and 
occupation  under  conditions  which  enabled  any  one, 
whether  man  or  woman,  married  or  single,  being  of 
age  and  a  citizen,  or  intending  to  be  such,  to  obtain  a 
portion  of  the  soil  of  the  country.  Even  those  who 
went  upon  the  lands  before  they  were  surveyed,  going 
into  absolute  occupation  and  making  improvements, 
were  provided  for  when  the  surveys  were  made,  being 
allotted  the  quarter  sections  upon  which  their  im- 
provements might  fall.  But  under  no  conditions  could 
any  one  obtain  more  than  a  limited  amount,  by  either 
preemption,  purchase  or  tree  culture,  or  by  all  three 
methods  combined.  The  limit  was  one  half  section, 
or  three  hundred  and  twenty  acres.  And  in  every 
case  the  conditions  of  occupation  and  improvement 
were  absolute. 

Under  this  system  monopoly  was  impossible.  The 
lands  went  into  the  hands  of  the  people  ;  homes  and 


RAILROAD  LAND    GRANTS.  91 

communities  were  being  planted  upon  our  frontiers, 
and  the  frontiers  were  being  constantly  extended  and 
advanced.  The  greatest  cost  to  the  settler  for  his  land 
was  one  dollar  and  a  quarter  per  acre,  and  a  small  fee 
for  registry  and  patent ;  the  whole  to  be  paid  after  a 
term  of  years,  without  interest.  And  I  believe  that 
no  case  is  known  where  a  bona  fide  settler  was  ever 
disturbed  or  distressed  because  of  inability  to  make 
his  payment  for  the  land.  The  system,  in  its  truest 
sense,  was  beneficent,  and  was  working  out  the  best 
results. 

But  after  railroad  building  had  become  established 
as  a  business  that  would  yield  good  profits,  and  capi- 
tal was  reaching  out,  under  the  stimulus  of  great  me- 
chanical development,  for  profitable  investment,  the 
doors  of  some  of  our  State  governments  were  besieged 
for  aid  in  railroad  building,  and  especially  for  grants 
of  the  unoccupied  lands  along  the  lines  of  the  pro- 
posed roads.  Some  of  these  efforts  meeting  with  suc- 
cess naturally  attracted  attention  from  others,  both 
capitalists  and  the  impecunious,  who  began  to  devise 
means  whereby  the  national  domain  might  be  at- 
tacked ;  and  the  halls,  anterooms,  and  doors  of  Con- 
gress,, for  the  last  twenty  years,  have  been  in  a  state 
of  constant  siege  for  land  grants  to  aid  in  the  building 
of  railroads.  No  expedient  has  been  left  untried  ;  no 
plausible  nor  good  reason  that  has  not  been  urged ; 
no  means,  fair  or  foul,  honest  or  corrupt,  that  have 
not  been  resorted  to  to  accomplish  the  end  desired. 

The  following  extract  from  one  of  our  great  dailies 
describes  the  knavery  of  one  of  the  railroad  land 
grants,  and  the  methods  pursued  to  make  the  fraud 


92  LAND  AND  LABOR. 

complete.     No  doubt  it  may  be  taken  as  a  fair  sam- 
ple of  not  a  few  other  swindles  equally  atrocious. 

A    BIG    FRAUD.  — THE    SECRET    HISTORY    OF    THE 
BACKBONE   LAND   GRANT. 

A  SCHEME  TO  STEAL  1,500,000  ACRES  OF  PUBLIC  LAND. 

HIGHLY  IMPORTANT   FACTS  FOR   CONGRESS  AND   FOR  PRESIDENT 
ARTHUR. 

"  One  million  four  hundred  and  ninety-two  thousand  acres 
of  good  land,  worth  every  cent  of  $3,000,000  in  good  money,  are 
about  to  be  signed  away  to  men  who  have  no  more  right  to  the 
property  than  has  Doin  Pedro  II,  of  Alcantara,  Emperor  of  Bra- 
zil, says  a  Washington  special  to  the  New  York  Sun.  The  land 
belongs  to  the  public  domain.  It  forms  a  territory  more  than 
twice  as  large  as  the  State  of  Rhode  Island.  Matters  are  in 
train  to  take  this  territory  from  the  people  of  the  United  States, 
its  rightful  owners,  and  to  hand  it  over  to  a  few  individuals 
who  have  grown  both  rich  and  audacious  by  similar  operations. 
Nothing  is  needed  now  but  the  signature  of  the  Secretary  of  the 
Interior  to  a  subordinate's  report  and  the  President's  formal 
approval.  The  job  has  traveled  in  darkness  to  its  final  stage. 
It  is  high  time  to  turn  on  the  daylight. 

"Just  before  the  Forty-First  Congress  adjourned  it  passed 
the  Texas  Pacific  bill,  a  huge  subsidy  measure  which  had  been 
pushed  through  by  one  of  the  boldest  and  most  unscrupulous 
combinations  ever  effected  in  the  lobby.  This  Act,  carrying  a 
grant  of  nearly  15,000,000  acres  of  public  lands,  was  approved 
by  General  Grant  March  3, 1871,  one  day  before  the  Forty-First 
Congress  ceased  to  exist.  Its  twenty-second  section  made  a 
grant  of  twenty  sections  of  land  per  mile  in  aid  of  the  construc- 
tion of  the  New  Orleans,  Baton  Rouge,  and  Vicksburg  Railroad, 
on  condition  that  the  whole  road  should  be  completed  within 
five  years.  This  road,  familiarly  known  as  the  Backbone  Road, 
was  chartered  by  the  State  of  Louisiana.  It  was  to  run  from 
New  Orleans  to  Baton  Rouge,  on  the  east  bank  of  the  Missis- 
sippi; then  across  the  river  and  by  way  of  Alexandria  to 


RAILROAD  LAND    GRANTS.  93 

Shreveport  —  318  miles  in  all.  It  was  not  finished  within  the 
limit  of  five  years  set  by  the  terms  of  the  act.  It  was  not  even 
begun. 

Not  a  spadeful  of  earth  was  ever  turned,  not  a  tic  cut,  nor  a 
rail  nor  a  spike  purchased.  The  railroad  never  earned  its  land 
grant.  It  never  had  existence  except  on  the  map  filed  in  the 
Interior  Department  at  Washington.  The  corporation  itself  is 
a  defunct  concern ;  its  charter  has  been  declared  forfeited  by 
the  Legislature  of  Louisiana,  which  created  it. 

Just  two  years  ago — that  is  to  say,  in  the  first  week  of  Janu- 
ary, 1881  —  there  was  achieved  in  a  little  oflSce  in  lower  Broad- 
way, in  New  York  City,  one  of  the  most  remarkable  transactions 
in  real  estate  of  which  there  is  any  record.  The  directors  of 
this  extinct  company,  representing  a  railroad  which  never  ex- 
isted, sold  for  one  dollar  a  million  and  a  half  acres  of  govern- 
ment land  which  it  never  owned.  The  purchaser  was  the  ,New 
Orleans  Pacific  Railway  Company,  now  consolidated  with  the 
Texas  &  Pacific. 

"  To  the  ordinary  intellect  this  will  seem  likejpurchasing  a  lost 
opportunity  from  the  ghost  of  an  imaginary  person.  )  Yet  it  is 
on  the  strength  of  that  amazing  transfer  that  $3,000,000  worth 
of  the  public  domain  will  be  signed  away,  perhaps  next  month, 
perhaps  next  week,  unless  Congress  blocks  the  game. 

"  On  January  5,  1881,  the  President  of  the  Backbone  Compa- 
ny executed  the  deed  of  transfer,  and  the  price  stipulated  is  one 
dollar.  But  one  dollar  was  by  no  means  the  real  consideration. 

"  The  true  basis  of  the  sale  was  a  secret  agreement  that  the 
New  Orleans  Pacific  should  issue  land  grant  bonds  for  the  lands 
to  be  acquired  from  the  government,  and  that  of  these  bonds 
the  New  Orleans  Pacific  should  retain  two  thirds,  the  other  third 
going  to  the  ghost  of  the  old  company.  This  agreement  was 
put  in  the  form  of  an  obligation,  signed  by  the  President  of  the 
New  Orleans  Pacific,  to  transfer  to  the  President  of  the  New 
Orleans,  Baton  Rouge,  and  Vicksburg  one  third  of  the  land 
grant  bonds.  The  document  is  now  held  by  a  trust  company  in 
New  York. 

"  There  was  still  another  stipulation,  and  a  very  important 


94  LAND  AND  LABOR. 

one.  Out  of  the  third  of  the  new  land  grant  bonds  assigned  to 
the  managers  of  the  old  road  they  were  to  take  up  all  the  out- 
standing stock  and  bonds  of  the  Backbone  Company.  These 
bonds  amounted  at  a  face  value  to  between  $4,000,000  and 
$5,000,000.  They  were  not  intended  for  the  market,  but  were 
freely  distributed  among  Congressmen  while  the  bill  was  in  its 
passage,  with  the  agreement  that  they  should  be  redeemed  at  a 
certain  per  ceutage  of  their  face  value.  The  holders  of  these 
bonds  found  that  their  claims  would  not  be  recognized  and  be- 
gan to  protest.  When  the  syndicate,  represented  by  ex  Con- 
gressman Sypher,  came  to  the  front  with  §480,000  of  Backbone 
paper,  it  was  found  that  to  take  up  all  the  outstanding  bonds 
and  stock  of  the  railroad  that  never  existed,  would  require 
more  than  the  Backbone's  one  third  of  the  New  Orleans  Pacific's 
new  land  grant  obligations,  even  though  that  third  amounted 
to  not  less  than  $1,000,000  in  bonds. 

"  This  disproportion  of  assets  to  liabilities  compelled  the  set- 
tlement of  twenty  cents  on  the  dollar.  Contracts  were  duly 
signed  by  the  officers  of  the  Backbone  Company  to  carry  out 
this  arrangement  with  the  hungry  bondholders.  The  obliga- 
tions now  out  call  for  the  redemption  of  the  stock  and  bonds 
of  the  New  Orleans,  Baton  Rouge,  and  Vicksburg  Railroad 
Company  in  bonds  of  the  New  Orleans  Pacific  Railroad  Com- 
pany at  the  rate  just  indicated.  The  agreement  to  this  effect, 
signed  by  the  President  of  the  New  Orleans,  Baton  Rouge,  and 
Vicksburg,  is  locked  up  in  the  safe  of  the  First  National  Bank 
of  New  York. 

"Behind  the  transfer  of  1,492,000  acres  of  the  people's  lands 
from  one  railroad  company  to  another  railroad  company  for  the 
nominal  consideration  of  one  dollar,  there  are,  therefore,  two 
secret  contracts,  duly  executed,  which  show  the  real  considera- 
tion of  the  transfer:  — 

"  1.  The  obligation  signed  by  E.  B.  Wheelock,  President  of 
the  New  Orleans  Pacific,  to  hand  back  to  William  H.  Barnum, 
President  of  the  New  Orleans,  Baton  Rouge,  and  Vicksburg, 
one  third  of  the  proceeds  of  the  land  conveyed  by  the  latter 
company  to  the  former.  The  New  Orleans  Pacific  Railway 


RAILROAD  LAND   GRANTS.  95 

Company  has  now  only  a  nominal  existence.  It  was  consoli- 
dated in  June,  1881,  with  the  Texas  Pacific,  the  President  of 
which  is  Mr.  Jay  Gould. 

"  2.  An  agreement  signed  by  the  President  of  the  New  Or- 
leans, Baton  Rouge,  and  Vicksburg  to  use  its  third  of  the  new 
land  grant  bonds  thus  acquired  in  taking  up  the  outstanding 
stock  and  bonds  of  the  defunct  corporation. 

"  A  protest  against  the  transfer  was  made  by  several  members 
of  Congress  and  other  holders  of  the  old  corruption  bonds. 
Attorney  General  Brewster  was  asked  to  prepare  an  opinion. 

"  That  the  opinion  exists,  and  is  dead  against  the  rights  of 
the  people  to  the  ownership  of  the  forfeited  land  grant,  is 
known  to  several  who  have  seen  and  read  the  paper.  Yet,  al- 
though it  is  a  public  document,  and  a  document  of  exceeding 
interest,  it  is  carefully  kept  from  the  eyes  of  the  public.  The 
other  papers  in  the  case  are  also  guarded  with  zealous  care 
from  the  public  eye.  Judge  Payson,  of  Illinois,  read  the  opin- 
ion, and  immediately  wrote  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior 
asking  to  be  heard  before  action  was  taken.  Judge  Payson's 
protest  is  all  that  now  stands  in  the  way  of  the  speedy  consum- 
mation of  the  great  land  grabbing  scheme.  Secretary  Teller 
has  only  to  accept  Commissioner  Hassard's  report  and  to  for- 
ward it  to  President  Arthur  for  his  formal  approval,  and  to 
direct  the  Land  Commissioner  to  issue  patents  for  the  land. 
That  is  all  that  remains  to  be  done.  Then  the  old  corruption 
account  of  1871  is  settled  at  the  nation's  expense,  a  clear  gift 
of  about  $2,000,000  is  made  by  the  nation  to  certain  men,  and 
the  forfeited  rights  of  a  defunct  corporation  to  1,492,000  acres 
of  the  public  domain  are  floated  over  miles  of  space  and  years 
of  time  to  another  and  entirely  different  road,  built  on  the  other 
side  of  the  Mississippi  river,  and  not  finished  until  years  after 
the  original  grant  was  forfeited." 

These  operations  have  undoubtedly  aided  in  the 
construction  of  some  roads  valuable  to  the  nation. 
But  let  us  briefly  look  at  the  cost  of  these  roads  to 
the  nation  ;  we  may  thus  discover  to  whom  they 


96  LAND  AND  LABOR. 

rightfully  belong.  I  must  be  very  brief.  A  full  dis- 
cussion of  this  matter  would  require  volumes. 

Some  of  the  most  prominent  objects  that  attract 
the  attention  of  one  who,  with  a  railroad  map  before 
him,  attempts  to  study  the  action  of  government  in 
relation  to  our  land  system,  are  the  immense  tracts  of 
the  national  domain  that  have  gone  into  the  hands  of 
corporations.  We  see  a  belt,  eighty  miles  wide,  ex- 
tending from  near  Lake  Superior  to  the  Pacific  Ocean, 
covering  some  of  the  best  agricultural,  pasture,  and 
timber  lands  in  the  country,  that  has  been  granted  to 
the  Northern  Pacific  Kailroad  Company.  Then  we 
see  a  belt  forty  miles  in  width,  from  the  Missouri 
river  to  near  the  bay  of  San  Francisco,  held  by  the 
Union  and  Central  Pacific  Kailroad  Companies.  Near 
the  Pacific  coast  we  see  a  belt  extending  longitudi- 
nally through  California,  owned  by  the  Western  and 
Southern  Pacific  Companies  ;  which,  as  is  well  known, 
are  owned  and  controlled  by  the  same  parties  that 
own  and  control  the  Central  Pacific.  And  we  see  a 
belt,  forty  miles  wide,  stretching  through  Kansas  into 
Colorado  and  New  Mexico,  towards  Arizona  and  Old 
Mexico,  that  is  represented  by  the  Atchison,  Topeka, 
and  Santa  ~F6  Railroad  Company.  Then  another  belt 
eighty  miles  in  width,  extending  across  New  Mexico 
.and  Arizona  to  near  the  Pacific,  represented  by  the 
Atlantic  and  Pacific  Company,  being  substantially  the 
Atchison,  Topeka,  and  Santa  Fe  Company.  Wher- 
ever, in  the  great  West,  we  may  turn  our  eyes,  we  see 
similar  belts  that  are  only  a  little  inferior  to  those 
mentioned. 

A  brief  examination  of  the  official  data  touching 


RAILROAD  LAND    GRANTS.  97 

these  land  grants  will  materially  assist  to  a  correct 
understanding  of  the  matter.  I  quote  from  "  The 
Public  Domain,"  Ex.  Doc.  47,  Part  4,  H.  B.  46th 
Congress,  3rd  Session,  p.  268. 

"  It  was  estimated  that  if  the  lands  embraced  in  limits  of 
grants  to  railroads  to  June  30, 1880,  were  all  available,  and  that 
the  corporations,  State  and  National,  built  their  roads,  and  com- 
plied with  the  laws,  it  would  require  215,000,000  of  acres  of  the 
public  domain  to  satisfy  the  requirements  of  the  various  laws. 
The  estimate  of  the  General  Land  Office  in  1878  was  that  it 
would  require  187,000,000  of  acres,  which  in  all  probability  will 
be  reduced  by  actual  selection,  forfeitures,  etc.,  to  154,000,000 
of  acres.  The  present  estimate  is  155,504,994.59  acres." 

Whatever  may  be  the  actual  amount  that  will  be 
finally  conveyed  and  confirmed  to  railroad  corpora- 
tions, under  the  various  grants,  the  amount  which 
has  actually  been  granted  by  Congress  appears  to  be 
about  215,000,000  acres.  This  does  not  include  the 
railroad  land  grants  from  the  State  of  Texas,  amount- 
ing to  38,457,600  acres,  as  given  by  the  Chicago  Tri- 
bune, which  must  be  taken  into  account  to  make  a 
complete  showing,  making  a  grand  aggregate,  in 
round  numbers,  of  255,000,000  of  acres. 

The  best  method  by  which  to  obtain  a  correct  idea 
of  the  magnitude  of  these  grants  is  by  comparison. 
Without  such  aid  the  ordinary  mind  can  not  grasp 
its  vastness. 

For  example  :  —  The  total  area  of  Great  Britain 
and  Ireland  is  74,137,600  acres,  or  less  than  one  third 
as  great  as  that  given  to  railroad  corporations  in  the 
United  States. 

For  a  home  comparison  I  find  that  the  total  area 


98  LAND  AND  LABOR. 

of  New  Hampshire,  Massachusetts,  Khode  Island, 
Connecticut,  New  York,  New  Jersey,  Pennsylvania, 
Delaware,  Maryland,  Virginia,  North  and  South  Caro- 
lina, and  Georgia  —  the  thirteen  original  States  of 
our  Union  — is  204,001,280  acres,  or  about  fifty  mil- 
lion acres  less  than  have  been  taken  from  our  public 
domain  and  donated  to  plutocrats  and  plunderers. 

Another  home  illustration  is  that  the  eight  great 
States  of  Pennsylvania,  Ohio,  Indiana,  Illinois,  Michi- 
gan, Wisconsin,  Iowa,  and  Missouri,  have  an  area  of 
258,549,120  acres,  or  but  little  more  than  has  been  by 
law  filched  from  the  lands  of  the  people,  and  granted 
to  a  small  band  of  speculating  monopolists,  to  be  used 
as  means  of  extortion  and  robbery.  The  magnitude 
of  these  grants  almost  staggers  the  understanding. 
There  is  not,  among  all  the  enlightened  nations  of 
modern  Europe,  one  that  has  an  area  which  equals 
that  of  our  railroad  kings. 

The  great  empire  of  Austro-Hungary  and  the 
kingdom  of  Italy,  with  Switzerland  and  the  Nether- 
lands added,  have  an  area  of  250,012,720  acres,  or 
nearly  five  million  acres  less  than  are  found  in  the 
empire  of  our  railroad  despots.  The  empire  of  Ger- 
many, with  the  kingdoms  of  Italy,  Greece,  and  Portu- 
gal, and  the  Swiss  Kepublic,  combined,  have  an  area 
of  251,163,520  acres,  or  four  million  acres  less  than  is 
the  area  devoted  to  speculation  by  our  government. 
France  and  Sweden  united  have  an  area  of  238,936,000 
acres,  being  nearly  twenty  million  acres  less  than  is 
held  by  a  small  number  of  railroad  magnates  in  the 
United  States,  by  favor  of  Congress,  without  restric- 
tion or  limit  in  their  use  or  disposition,  and  which  are 


RAILROAD  LAND    GRANTS.  99 

exempted  from  all  the  burdens  to  which  all  other 
property  is  subjected. 

This  immense  area  of  the  public  domain  is  what 
has  been  actually  donated  to  corporations  by  our  gen- 
eral government  and  the  State  of  Texas.  But  within 
the  limits  covered  by  these  railroad  grants  is  another 
area  of  equal  extent  that  has  been  reserved  by  govern- 
ment for  settlement  under  the  provisions  of  the  home- 
stead laws.  This,  also,  comes  under  the  domination 
of  the  huge  estates  by  which  they  are  surrounded,  and 
are  being  absorbed  and  swallowed  up  in  the  manner 
herein  described  and  by  the  many  other  methods  by 
which  small  holdings  disappear  in  the  presence  of 
the  great  estates.  Thus  we  see  that  under  the  pecu- 
liar provisions  of  the  laws  making  these  grants,  they 
are  made  to  cover  twice  the  area  actually  conveyed, 
and  bring  under  their  baleful  influence  at  least 
500,000,000  acres  of  the  public  domain,  instead  of 
the  255,000,000  described  in  the  grants.  The  more 
closely  the  provisions  of  these  grants  are  examined, 
the  greater  is  the  monstrous  wrong  that  is  shown  to 
be  covered  by  them. 

Estimated  upon  the  basis  of  dollars  and  cents,  it  is 
seen  that  our  government  has  donated  to  railroad  cor- 
porations lands  which,  at  its  minimum  rate,  it  now 
values  at  $600,000,000,  without  limit  or  check  of  any 
kind  being  provided  for  their  disposition.  It  is  noto- 
rious that  the  corporations  are  selling  these  lands,  in 
blocks,  to  other  speculators,  foreign  and  domestic,  in 
areas  amounting  to  tens  and  hundreds  of  thousands 
of  acres  each,  and  also  in  small  lots,  to  aliens  as  well 
as  natives,  at  prices  varying  from  >  ten  dollars 


100  LAND  AND  LABOR. 

and  more  per  acre.  Thus  extorting  from  the  people 
billions  of  dollars,  and  building  up  in  our  midst  a 
plutocratic  power  such  as  the  world  has  never  before 
known.  The  whole  thing  stands  as  a' colossal  monu- 
ment of  speculative  madness  and  governmental  folly. 

These  grants  are  divided  among  about  eighty  cor- 
porations. Some  of  the  earlier  and  smaller  grants 
were  limited  to  six  sections  per  mile,  and  the  sale  of 
the  lands  was  restricted  to  actual  settlers  of  one  hun- 
dred and  sixty  acres  each,  at  two  dollars  and  fifty 
cents  per  acre.  The  first  grant  was  made  in  1850  to 
the  State  of  Illinois,  for  the  Illinois  Central  Railroad, 
and  for  the  next  twelve  years  all  grants  were  made  to 
the  States,  and  by  the  States  to  the  corporations. 
July  1,  1862,  Congress  made  its  first  grant  of  lands 
direct  to  corporations,  in  the  cases  of  the  Union  and 
Central  Pacific  companies.  The  change  in  the  meth- 
ods and  amounts  of  the  grants  was  complete  and  has 
continued  to  the  present  time.  The  number  of  sec- 
tions has  grown  from  six  to  forty  per  mile,  with  no 
restriction  or  limit  of  any  nature. 

Forty-one  days  before  the  passage  of  the  Union 
and  Central  Pacific  land  grant  Act,  on  May  20,  1862, 
Congress,  after  a  long  and  fierce  contest,  had  passed 
a  homestead  law,  limiting  the  sales  of  the  lands  to 
one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  each,  for  "  actual  settle- 
ment and  cultivation/'  at  one  dollar  and  twenty-five 
cents  per  acre,  to  any  one  of  age,  who  "  is  a  citizen  of 
the  United  States,  or  who  shall  have  filed  his  declara- 
tion of  intention  to  become  such,  as  required  by  the 
naturalization  laws  of  the  United  States."  But  ut- 
terly regardless  of  the  beneficent  land  system  just 


RAILROAD  LAND   GRANTS.  1Q1 

adopted  —  in  no  manner  recognizing  its  existence  — 
Congress  entered  upon  its  career  of  land  robbery  and 
waste,  in  response  to  the  demands  of  corporate  specu- 
lators and  gamblers,  that,  as  John  Randolph,  with 
biting  sarcasm  yet  bitter  truth,  declared,  have  neither 
souls  to  damn  nor  bodies  to  kick,  and  the  nation  has 
now  commenced  to  reap  its  harvest  of  repentance  and 
restitution. 

Of  the  255,000,000  acres  that  have  been  granted  by 
the  general  government  and  the  State  of  Texas,  quite 
one  half  has  gone  into  the  hands  of  what  are  sub- 
stantially not  more  than  five  great  corporations,  viz.  : 
the  Central  Pacific,  15,260,000  acres;  the  Union 
Pacific,  16,115,000  acres;  the  Northern  Pacific, 
42,000,000  acres ;  the  Atchison,  Topeka  and  Santa 
Fe,  25,667,200  acres  ;  the  Texas  Pacific,  13,000,000 
acres.  Total,  112,042,000  acres. 

These  five  corporations  are  really  controlled  and 
represented  by  not  more  than  twenty-five  men,  who, 
out  of  their  great  wealth,  their  more  than  princely 
revenues  derived  from  these  grants  —  the  gift  of  the 
government  by  the  plunder  of  the  people  —  contribute 
nothing  for  the  support  of  government  or  the  general 
welfare.  This  monstrous  exhibition  of  our  govern- 
mental fatuousness,  or  corruption,  will  become  the 
wonder  of  nations,  and  pass  into  history  as  the  mon- 
ster fraud  of  the  nineteenth  century. 

The  results  of  these  unguarded,  unprotected,  but 
monstrous  donations  are  fraught  with  the  greatest 
present  damage  to  the  people,  and  ultimate  peril  to 
the  nation. 

The  first  result  is  the  practical  destruction  of  the 


102  LAND  AND  LABOR. 

beneficent  homestead  system  —  a  breach  of  trust,  on 
the  part  of  the  government  to  the  present  and  future 
generations,  that  is  without  excuse,  and  can  not  be 
too  soon  corrected.  Now  capitalists  and  corporations, 
whether  native  or  foreign,  may  acquire  of  our  public 
domain,  through  railroad  corporations,  an  amount 
that  is  limited  only  by  the  desire  or  the  ability  to 
buy.  Practically  a  purchase  is  made  from  the  rail- 
road company  of,  say,  two  hundred  of  the  odd  num- 
bered sections,  which  are  the  railroad  lands,  or  128,000 
acres.  The  purchaser  goes  into  occupation  of  the  odd 
sections  he  has  bought,  and  takes  possession  of  the 
even  numbered,  or  government  sections,  that  lie  be- 
tween. In  this  manner  he  obtains  256,000  acres  of 
that  which  the  people  had  believed  to  be  their  birth- 
right, 'and  in  which  they  were  limited  to  three  hun- 
dred and  twenty  acres  each. 

One  half  is  bought  from  a  railroad  company,  and 

the  other  half  is  sto [oh,  no,  not  stolen ;  such 

people  never  steal.  That  term  can  be  properly  ap- 
plied to  the  wretched  woman  that  is  compelled  to 
steal  a  loaf  to  feed  her  famishing  babes,  for  which  she 
is  legally  sentenced,  by  blind  justice,  to  ninety  days 
in  the  House  of  Correction,  whilst  the  children  are 

left  to what  ?     Who  can  tell  ?     Would  it  not 

be  well  to  pull  the  bandage  from  off  the  eyes  of  the 
blind  goddess,  turn  on  the  lights,  and  give  her  at 
least  one  good  view  of  the  horrors  that  are  wrought 
in  her  name  ?].  No,  no,  the  parties  who  obtain  the 
people's  lands  in  the  manner  described  do  not  steal. 
The  lands  are  not  stolen  ;  they  are  only  absorbed. 
That  is  an  inoffensive  term  that  will  express  the  idea. 


RAILROAD  LAND   GRANTS.  103 

I  will  therefore  say,  one  half  is  bought  from  a  railroad 
corporation  and  the  other  half  is  absorbed  from  the 
lands  contiguous.  The  purchaser  runs  his  plow 
through  the  government,  or  absorbed,  sections,  and 
thus  takes  possession.  No  one  can  reach  those  sec- 
tions without  crossing  the  lands  that  have  been 
bought  from  the  railroad  corporations,  and  thus  com- 
mitting trespass.  The  only  even  sections  that  I  have 
seen  where  there  was  even  a  pretense  of  respect  for 
the  people's  rights,  have  been  the  school  sections, 
numbered  sixteen  and  thirty-six,  which  the  adjoin- 
ing proprietors  say  they  will  purchase  when  offered, 
but  in  the  mean  time  take  possession  of. 

The  local  courts  confirm  the  possession  and  punish 
the  trespass,  and  thus  the  title  is  quieted.  Inasmuch 
as  these  proceedings  are  thus  legalized  it  can  not  be 
stealing  nor  robbery.  But  somehow  the  people  have 
lost  all  rights  and  monopoly  is  triumphant. 

When  the  noncapitalist,  or  would  be  small  farmer, 
finds  a  government  section  that  is  not  covered  as 
above  described,  he  can  obtain  only  what  the  law  al- 
lows at  the  cost  of  two  dollars  and  fifty  cents  an  acre, 
instead  of  one  dollar  and  twenty-five  cents,  as  for- 
merly. Or  if  he  desires  some  of  the  railroad  lands  he 
must  pay  whatever  the  cupidity  or  power  of  extortion 
on  the  part  of  the  corporations  may  compel ;  often 
amounting  to  ten,  fifteen  or  more  dollars  per  acre. 
For  as  settlements  and  society  advance,  the  value  of 
the  land  is  enhanced  ;  and  this  enhanced  value,  cre- 
ated by  society,  is  the  premium  which  the  corpora- 
tions are  sure  to  extort. 

They  fill  the  countries  of  Europe  with  their  agents 


104  LAND  AND  LABOR. 

and  circulars,  advertising  their  lands  and  giving  the 
most  glowing  accounts  of  the  prosperity  of  the  far- 
mers in  the  west,  the  cheapness  of  the  lands,  and  the 
certainty  of  quickly  accumulating  fortunes,  and  the 
life  of  comfort  that  follows.  Multitudes  are  induced 
to  abandon  their  connections  and  homes  in  the  old 
country,  and  seek  the  new ;  some  with  contracts  for 
lands  in  their  pockets  before  they  start,  and  others 
with  barely  enough  to  reach  our  shores,  at  once  be- 
coming additions  to  our  multitudes  of  paupers. 

The  following  extracts  from  Jay  Gould's  testimony 
before  the  New  York  Senate  Committee,  December 
14,  1882,  as  reported  in  the  Tribune  of  the  following 
day,  will  shed  some  light  upon  the  manner  in  which 
the  great  spontaneous  [?]  European  immigrations  are 
engineered :  — 

"  You  stated  that  speculation  promoted  immigration.  How 
does  it  do  this  ? " 

"  It  induces  the  construction  of  railroads  into  new  territory, 
and  that  induces  the  roads  to  send  abroad  to  get  immigrants  to 
settle  the  lands." 

"  To  what  extent  have  you  influence^  immigration  ? " 

"That's  impossible  to  tell.  We  are  advertising  in  all  the 
lands  abroad.  The  immigrants  come,  and  may  go  on  our  lands 
or  elsewhere.  When  I  was  in  Europe  you  couldn't  go  anywhere 
but  you  saw  agents  of  American  land  grant  companies." 

"Do  all  the  roads  have  these  agents  ? " 

"All  the  land  grant  roads.  The  Union  Pacific,  Central  Pa- 
cific, Atchison  and  Topeka,  Kansas  Pacific,  Chicago  and  Bur- 
lington. Missouri  and  Nebraska,  Rock  Island,  Missouri,  Kansas 
and  Texas,  Texas  Pacific,  and  St.  Louis  and  Iron  Mountain." 

[Mr.  Gould  explained  at  length  the  methods  used  by  the 
companies  and  their  agents  to  induce  emigration  from  the 
European  countries.] 


RAILROAD  LAND   GRANTS.  105 

"On  an  average,  bow  many  immigrants  does  your  system 
bring  to  this  country  ?  " 

"  I  can't  tell  you  that.  The  number  is  very  large.  I  have 
under  my  immediate  control  10,000  miles  of  roads,  and  immi- 
gration goes  along  6,000  or  7,000  of  them.  I  was  out  there  last 
year  and  saw  that  towns  have  sprung  up  all  over  the  territory." 

"  How  much  of  the  land  has  been  settled  ? " 

"  I  can't  tell.  The  government's  plan  was  to  grant  the  rail- 
roads alternate  sections,  and  as  they  are  offered  cheaper  they 
are  usually  occupied  first.  The  government's  price  is  $2  50  an 
acre.  We  sell  for  from  $3  to  $6.  I  have  known  immigrants 
to  take  the  virgin  soil  and  make  enough  profit  on  their  first 
year's  crop  to  pay  for  their  farm.  We  have  never  lost  any 
money  by  these  sales.  There  have  been  instances  when  lands 
have  been  thrown  back  on  our  hands,  but  we  have  always  sold 
them  again." 

"  Do  you  know  what  prices  the  western  producers  receive  for 
their  wheat  in  the  local  markets  ? " 

"  It  varies  according  to  the  prices  at  Chicago  and  St.  Louis." 

"  What  is  the  average  received  ?  " 

"  There  is  a  pretty  wide  fluctuation.  They  want  a  dollar  for 
their  wheat  and  are  not  satisfied  with  less.  I  think  they  get 
about  70  cents  now." 

"  Through  what  sections  of  the  country  do  your  roads  run, 
Mr.  Gould? " 

"Through  Indiana,  Ohio,  Illinois,  Missouri,  Iowa,  Kansas, 
Nebraska,  Arkansas,  and  Texas." 

Here  is  the  most  conclusive  evidence  of  the  way  and 
manner  in  which  the  general  government  is  used  by 
a  horde  of  speculators  to  aid  their  speculations.  Here 
it  is  shown  for  whose  benefit  the  State  of  New  York 
is  taxed  to  support  her  Emigrant  Commissioners, 
Castle  Garden,  Ward's  Island,  and  other  immigrant 
expenditures.  So  with  the  thousand  and  one  impo- 
sitions upon  the  people,  throughout  the  country,  from 


106  LAND  AND  LABOR. 

the  same  cause.  This  also  shows  how  it  is  that  our 
country  is  being  filled  with  an  alien  population  raked 
out  of  all  the  corners  and  hives  of  Europe,  and  sent 
here  in  swarms,  to  occupy  our  public  domain,  and 
leave  to  the  children  of  the  soil  not  an  acre  of  the 
heritage  bequeathed  by  our  fathers,  that  we  may  call 
our  own.  Here  we  have  the  most  conclusive  evidence 
that  the  monster  immigrations  from  Europe  which  we, 
within  a  few  years  past,  have  been  receiving,  are  in- 
duced by  the  agents  of  the  land  grant  railroads,  to 
fill  up  and  occupy  the  lands  of  the  people.  For  the 
benefit  of  these  railroad  corporations  are  our  General, 
State,  and  Municipal  Governments  taxed  for  the  sup- 
port of  the  paupers  they  send  to  our  shores,  and  for 
Emigrant  Commissioners,  etc.  Not  only  are  our  peo- 
ple thus  robbed  of  their  rights  in  the  public  domain, 
but  are  mulcted  in  all  the  costs  of  the  care  and  sup- 
port of  the  multitudes  that  are  thus  thrown  upon  us. 
But  the  railroad  companies  are  sure  to  escape  all  of 
these  costs.  These  European  hordes  are  planted  in 
colonies  as  tenants  upon  the  lands  of  some  alien  Croe- 
sus or  domestic  plutocrat,  to  extend  the  feudal  slavery 
already  so  firmly  planted.  Or,  if  they  have  the  means 
to  do  so,  to  start  a  small  farm  near  some  land  grant 
railroad,  to  be  surely  swallowed  up  by  the  great  estates 
with  which  they  are  surrounded.  Whilst  other  hordes 
who  are  not  thus  planted  in  colonies,  nor  obtain  farms 
on  their  own  account,  are  turned  loose  upon  the  coun- 
try without  occupations,  or  other  means  of  subsistence, 
to  furnish  a  fund  of  cheap  labor  to  be  drawn  upon  by 
the  bonanza  farmers,  or  others,  as  required. 

Here  we  have  a  condition  of  things  for  which  his- 


RAILROAD  LAND    GRANTS.  107 

tory  does  not  furnish  parallel  nor  precedent.  For  our 
system  of  tenant  farming  a  precedent  is  found ;  and 
for  our  large  landed  estates  something  approaching 
parallel  conditions.  -  But  for  the  robbery  of  a  people, 
by  their  own  government,  that  aliens  may  have  un- 
limited enjoyment  of  their  heritage,  for  the  especial 
benefit  of  domestic  and  alien  speculators,  as  has  been 
done  in  our  case,  no  precedent  exists. 

A  good  illustration  of  the  wholesale  robbery  of  the 
people  for  the  benefit  of  alien  capitalists  and  specula- 
tors is  found  in  the  following  item  clipped  from  the 
New  York  Tribune  of  March  6,  1883. 

"  "  Rumors  that  the  Northern  Pacific  Railroad  Company  had 
completed  the  sale  of  some  four  million  acres  of  land  to  a  for- 
eign syndicate  have  been  recently  revived.  At  the  office  of 
the  railroad  company  it  was  said  yesterday  that  the  negotia- 
tions were  in  the  same  condition  that  they  had  been  for  several 
months.  The  company  has  something  over  four  million  acres 
of  land  east  of  the  Missouri  River  which  it  has  offered  for  sale 
at  about  $4  an  acre.  The  lands  have  not  been  sold,  it  was  said, 
but  probably  the  syndicate  would  take  them  as  soon  as  it  had 
completed  its  arrangements." 

Our  homestead  laws  limit  the  sales  of  the  public 
domain  to  lots  of  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  each, 
but  railroad  plutocrats  are  specially  privileged  to  sell 
to  alien  and  domestic  monopolists  in  lots  of  millions 
of  acres,  and  absorb  all  that  joins  them. 

The  spectacle  of  a  great  nation,  in  point  of  popula- 
tion and  general  intelligence  standing  first  in  the  great 
sisterhood  of  modern  civilization,  in  the  hands  of  a 
class  of  speculators  who  control  the  government,  waste 
and  squander  the  nation's  heritage,  and  play  with  the 


108  LAND  AND  LABOR. 

people's  dearest  interests  as  gamblers  play  with  dice, 
or  boys  with  foot  balls,  is  not  a  hopeful  sign  of  ad- 
vancement. The  facts  are  both  astounding  and 
shameful. 

It  appears  to  be  the  desire  of  these  great  corporations 
to  at  once  absorb  the  whole  public  domain,  people  it 
with  the  paupers  of  Europe  on  the  one  side,  and  those 
of  Asia  on  the  other,  and  between  these  two  millstones 
to  grind  the  children  of  the  soil  into  the  most  abject 
slavery.  Certainly,  another  twenty  years'  develop- 
ment like  those  just  passed,  will  leave  nothing  to  the 
country  worth  saving,  and  sink  our  people  so  deep  in 
the  mire  of  plutocratic  despotism  and  social  degrada-^ 
tion  as  to  make  a  revolution,  in  our  country,  like  the 
French  of  the  last  century,  the  greatest  boon  that  the 
Almighty  can  bless  us  with. 

Mr.  Gould,  in  his  testimony,  says,  "  We  have  never 
lost  any  money  by  these  sales.  There  have  been  in- 
stances when  lands  have  been  thrown  back  on  our 
hands,  but  we  have  always  sold  them  again."  It  was 
hardly  necessary  for  Mr.  Gould  to  have  made  that 
statement.  Most  certainly  they  sell  them  again,  a 
dozen  times  over  if  they  can  get  the  chance  to  do  so ; 
but  never  refund  a  dime  of  principal  or  interest  that 
have  been  paid,  nor  for  improvements  that  have  been 
made.  It  is  certain  that  they  do  not  lose  money  by 
those  sales ;  nor  do  vendors  of  sewing  machines,  in- 
stalment furniture,  and  other  articles  under  similar 
conditions.  Such  transactions  are  in  perfect  harmony 
with  th  ir  practice  in  the  whole  matter. 

Special  rates,  in  this  connection,  is  another  weight 
that  the  people  must  bear.  When  the  capitalist 


RAILROAD  LAND    GRANTS.  109 

makes  his  purchase,  he  is  able  to  command  rates 
that  the  small  purchaser  would  be  laughed  at  if  asked 
for  by  him.  He  must  pay  the  uttermost  demand  and 
expect  no  favors. 

Another  special,  and  it  should  be  an  intolerable, 
abuse  attends  these  gigantic  land  grants  ;  and  that 
is,  that  upon  these  great  landholdings  the  grantees 
pay  no  taxes.  Though  they  become  the  de  facto 
owners  of  these  great  properties,  which,  by  the  opera- 
tions of  society,  are  constantly  increasing  in  value, 
doubling  and  quadrupling  within  a  few  years,  and 
from  which  are  derived  almost  fabulous  revenues,  in 
the  extortions  which  they  thus  force  from  the  people, 
they  pay  not  one  cent  for  the  support  of  government, 
or  the  welfare  of  society.  All  these  burdens  are 
thrown  upon  the  people  ;  they  bear  none  of  them. 

Out  of  these  great  monopolies  have  grown  many 
more  giant  evils  than  are  here  pointed  out.  I  have 
by  no  means  exhausted  the  catalogue.  They  hold 
the  highways  of  the  nation  as  well  as  rob  the  people 
of  their  patrimony  ;  they  control  many  of  the  great 
sources  of  industry  and  avenues  of  trade ;  and  they 
appear  to  hold  the  government  by  the  throat.  Every 
interest  in  the  country  appears  to  be  compelled  to 
contribute  to  the  aggrandizement  of  these  great  mo- 
nopolies, that  have  grown  out  of  the  mistaken  liber- 
ality of  the  people  and  government ;  and  every  inter- 
est in  the  country  correspondingly  suffers. 

But  they  are  standing  upon  a  power  that  is  at 
present  ignorant  of  its  real  strength,  and  knows  not 
yet  how  to  use  it,  though  the  iron  heels  of  these 
plutocratic  monopolies  are  pressing  deeper  and  deeper 


110  LAND  AND  LABOR. 

into  the  writhing  flesh.  It  can  not,  will  not  always 
continue. 

Fifteen  years  ago,  in  the  New  York  constitutional 
convention,  George  William  Curtis,  in  discussing  the 
matter  of  the  consolidation  of  railroad  interest,  said  :  — 

"I  presume  no  student  of  history ;  I  presume  no  scholar  in 
political  science,  will  deny  that  what  the  great  baronial  power 
was  in  mediaeval  civilization,  and  what  the  great  slaveholding 
oligarchy  has  been  in  our  politics,  the  vast  consolidation  of  cap- 
ital will  be  in  the  future  of  this  country,  if  the  people  do  not  in- 
terpose. Gentlemen  who  speak  so  lightly  of  monopolies  should 
understand  that  the  danger  of  our  civilization  is  the  towering 
tyranny  of  capital." 

The  developments  of  the  last  fifteen  years,  in  the 
direction  to  which  Mr.  Curtis  so  forcibly  calls  atten- 
tion as  shown  above,  has  given  a  force  to  his  language 
that  at  this  time  makes  it  most  notably  significant. 

The  last  edition  of  the  Encyclopedia  Britannica,  in 
the  article  on  LAND,  makes  some  wholesome  reflec- 
tions on  this  matter  very  pertinent  to  our  present 
condition.  It  shows  the  growth  of  landownership  in 
Rome  ;  the  creation  of  tenants  and  tenantcy  at  will, 
under  the  name  ofprecarium,  and  large  estates  capa- 
ble of  subdivision,  which  resulted  in 

"  the  long  struggle  of  which  the  successive  Agrarian  Laws  were 

the   landmark   and   remedies A  century  later  the 

Gracchi  again  endeavored  to  restore  health  to  the  body  politic 
by  a  distribution  of  the  state  lands  among  the  proletariat.  The 
attempt  was  stifled  in  blood,  but  the  necessity  of  the  measure 
was  proved  by  the  fact  that  a  full  generation  later  Caius  Julius 
Caesar  carried  out  the  same  reform. 

"  But  the  time  for  remedy,  however,  was  past.  The  great 
estates  (lattfundia)  had  already  been  created;  they  were 


RAILROAD  LAND   GRANTS. 

respected  by  the  reformers,  alike  popular  and  imperial ;  and 
tbeir  inevitable  growth  inevitably  swallowed  up  the  small 
farms  of  new  creation,  and  ultimately  destroyed  Rome.  For 
its  manhood  was  gone ;  the  wealth  of  millionaires  could  not 
purchase  back  honesty  or  courage ;  and  the  defence  of  merce- 
naries failed  to  form  a  barrier  against  the  wars  of  hardy  north- 
ern invaders.  Pliny's  words,  'latifundia  perdidere  Italium,' 
embraces  the  truth,  yet  more  fully  made  clear  in  many  a  gene- 
ration after  he  wrote." 

Are  we  not  repeating  that  bit  of  history  ? 


CHAPTER  V. 

SUMMARY  AND  EFFECTIVE  MEASURES  FOR  BREAKING 
UP  GREAT  LANDED  ESTATES  AND  TENANT  HOLD- 
INGS, AND  RESTORING  THE  PUBLIC  DOMAIN  TO 
THE  PEOPLE. 

IN  discussing  these  matters  I  can  not  see  any  good 
reason  why  they  should  take  on  a  personal  form. 
They  are  not  questions  of  individual  action,  but  of 
systems,  of  governmental  policy.  Though  individuals 
appear  as  prominent  exponents,  or  factors,  in  the  de- 
velopment of  these  systems,  it  is  not  because  of  any 
predetermined  action  on  their  part,  but  because,  in 
the  general  movement  of  society  in  accordance  with 
present  tendencies,  these  persons  happen  to  be  found 
floating  in  the  eddies  that  are  constantly  catching  and 
gathering  the  wealth  borne  by  the  great  stream  that 
rushes  onwards.  If  it  were  not  these  individuals  it 
would  be  others.  These  systems  can  not  exist  with- 
out producing  the  exact  types  and  effects  that  now  so 
prominently  illustrate  their  workings.  Therefore  it 
should  be  plain  to  every  one  that  whatever  war  is 
undertaken,  because  of  the  evils  under  which  we  suf- 
fer, it  is  not  to  be  waged  against  persons,  except  so 
far  as  they  attempt  to  defend  the  systems,  but  against 
the  systems  themselves.  Remedies  are  not  to  be  found 

112 


SUMMARY  REMEDIES.  113 

or  achieved  by  railing  at  or  abusing  plutocratic  rep- 
resentatives, but  by  carefully  examining  the  causes 
which  have  produced  them,  and  devising  other  sys- 
tems and  regulations  in  society  —  in  obtaining  and 
enforcing  laws,  by  the  concurrent  action  of  the  people, 
under  which  present  conditions  can  not  exist  ;  then 
plutocratic  monopoly  and  power  will  cease  to  be  the 
controlling  factors. 

Of  late  there  has  been  a  great  development  in  the 
discussion  of  matters  relating  to  the  tenures  of  land, 
their  derivations  and  growth,  and  the  manner  and 
method  of  their  regulation.  How  these  tenures  have 
grown,  and  the  brutalities  and  monstrous  oppressions 
that  have  attended  the  numberless  changes,  acquisi- 
tions, and  losses  in  the  possession  of  the  lands  have 
been  too  often  told,  and  are  too  well  known,  to  require 
repetition  in  these  pages.  One  point,  at  least,  there 
is  and  can  be  no  doubt  about :  —  that  the  earth,  the 
land,  was  given  to  man  to  subdue  and  cultivate,  and 
from  it  to  derive  his  subsistence. 

The  land  being  man's  birthright,  he  becomes  the 
sole  arbiter  and  ruler  of  it,  to  use  and  dispose  of  in 
the  manner  that  will  best  promote  the  purpose  for 
which  it  was  given.  The  right  and  duty  thus  created 
man  can  not  divest  himself  of,  nor  in  any  manner  limit 
or  restrict  the  succeeding  generations  in  the  exercise 
of  that  continuous  right  and  duty.  Hence  society, 
which  is  the  concrete  man,  ever  finds  it  necessary  to 
change  and  modify  the  conditions  of  the  occupation  of 
lands,  as  the  conditions  and  developments  in  its  body 
require.  Thus,  when  in  the  state  of  the  nomadic  and 
pastoral  life,  separate  and  distinct  allotments,  having 


114  LAND  AND  LABOR. 

the  element  of  permanency,  were  undesirable,  the  lands 
became  tribal  property,  for  common  use. 

But  when  in  the  more  advanced  stages  of  society 
the  wandering  nomadic  life  has  been  departed  from, 
and  mankind  have  gathered  into  groups  and  commu- 
nities, with  fixed  habits  and  greatly  diversified  indus- 
tries and  interests,  as  at  present ;  when  it  is  found 
that  a  large  portion  of  society,  from  the  very  nature 
of  its  conditions,  can  not  immediately  occupy  and 
make  use  of  any  part  of  the  land,  whilst  other  mem- 
bers of  the  body  politic  are  altogether  dependent  upon 
fixed  and  permanent  allotments,  with  every  degree  of 
necessity  existing  between  the  two  extremes,  it  still  is 
the  right  and  duty  of  society  to  fix  the  limitations 
and  determine  the  tenures  by  which  all  these  vari- 
ously required  holdings  may  be  obtained  and  retained. 

Humanly  speaking,  existing  society  is  the  source  of 
title,  and  the  sole  authority  in  all  matters  of  change 
and  adaptation  ;  and  so  it  must  ever  continue  to  be. 
In  all  civilized  communities  the  voice  and  will  of  so- 
ciety finds  its  expression  in  what  is  called  law ; 
which,  with  us,  is  the  direct  creation  of  the  people, 
under  prescribed  forms  and  regulations,  also  made  by 
the  people.  Therefore,  it  is  not  of  the  smallest  con- 
sequence what  may  have  been  the  derivations  through 
which  the  present  tenures  may  have  reached  us  ;  the 
rights  of  society  in  the  matter  remain  the  same. 
What  might  have  been  deemed  vested  rights  at  one 
time,  and  under  the  conditions  then  existing,  may  be 
found  vested  wrongs  at  this  time  and  with  us,  and 
should  be  abolished.  Our  English  ancestors,  when 
framing  the  laws  for  our  government,  largely  drew 


SUMMARY  REMEDIES.  115 

from  the  English  code,  and  made  it  the  common  law. 
But  the  laws  of  entail  and  primogeniture  were  barred 
as  unsuitable  to  our  conditions.  Twenty-five  years 
ago  it  was  deemed  that  the  old  laws  which  made 
slaves  of  a  portion  of  mankind  had  become  wrongs 
that  should  be  abolished,  and  society  washed  them 
out  in  oceans  of  blood. 

Hence,  it  can  hardly  be  denied  that  it  still  remains 
as  much  the  prerogative  and  duty  of  society  to  abol- 
ish vested  wrongs  as  it  is  to  protect  vested  rights,  and 
that  the  right  to  do  so  extends  to  the  use  of  whatever 
means  may  be  necessary  to  accomplish  the  end  de- 
sired. The  question  of  means,  also,  lies  within  the 
judgment  of  society  and  the  necessities  of  the  case,  as 
well  as  the  determination  of  what  are  rights  and  what 
are  wrongs. 

Having,  as  I  believe,  thus  clearly  and  correctly  de- 
fined the  true  relations  of  man  to  the  soil,  I  proceed 
to  the  discussion  of  the  matters  which  form  the  head- 
ing to  this  chapter.  That  these  questions  are  sur- 
rounded with  difficulties  must  be  admitted  ;  and  that 
diverse  opinions  may  be  honestly  entertained  can  not 
be  questioned.  But  keeping  in  view  the  principles 
above  laid  down,  and  man's  inalienable  rights,  one 
need  not  go  far  wrong. 

It  has  been  shown  that,  within  the  last  twenty-five 
years,  there  has  been,  in  these  United  States,  an  as- 
tounding development  of  the  old  feudal  system  of  ten- 
ant farming.  That  we  already  have  in  our  country  at 
least  a  million  and  a  quarter  of  tenant  farm  holdings  ; 
a  number  far  greater  than  is  found  in  Great  Britain 
and  Ireland  combined.  It  has  also  been  shown  that 


116  LAND  AND  LABOR. 

the  systems  of  tenant  farming  of  great  estates,  and 
tenantcy  at  will,  which  so  largely  obtain  with  us,  was 
the  cause  of  the  destruction  of  Home.  It  is  hardly 
necessary  to  more  than  allude  to  the  fact  that  the 
French  revolution  of  the  past  century  found  its  source 
in  similar  conditions,  or  that  the  most  powerful  na- 
tions and  governments  in  Europe  are  being  shaken  to 
their  foundations  by  like  causes. 

The  spectacle  now  exhibited  by  Mr.  Gladstone,  at 
the  head  of  the  great  liberal  party  and  government 
of  England,  in  his  effort  to  clutch  the  throat  of  a  kin- 
dred monster  in  that  country,  is  most  suggestive,  and 
should  be  a  timely  warning. 

The  facts,  the  tendencies,  and  the  inevitable  results 
of  our  system  of  tenant  farming,  if  a  remedy  is  not 
found,  there  is  not  the  least  hope  of  successfully  de- 
nying. Therefore  the  only  question  to  be  asked  and 
answered  is,  What  can  be  done  about  it  ?  The  an- 
swer is,  end  it ;  end  it  at  once,  before  it  attains 
greater  strength  and  wider  scope ;  wipe  it  out,  even 
though  it  can  only  be  done  in  blood  ;  for  if  that  mon- 
ster lives  and  continues  to  grow  the  nation  must  die. 
But,  fortunately,  blood  is  not  required,  nor  violence 
of  any  kind,  nor  distress  to  either  party,  landlord  or 
tenant. 

But  there  is  another  matter  that  must  first  be  con- 
sidered in  this  connection  ;  and  that  is,  the  danger 
that  the  bonanza  farms,  which  would  become  unnian- 
iblc  under  the  operation  of  measures  hereafter  to 
!•••  proposed,  would  be  cut  up  into  tenant  farms,  and 
thus  add  to  the  great  evil  of  tenant  farming,  if  pro- 
visions were  not  made  to  prevent  that  action. 


SUMMARY  REMEDIES.  117 

The  fact  has  been  pointed  out  that  the  lands  of  the 
great  railroad  grants  escape  taxation,  and  so  do  the 
bonanza  farms  that  have  grown  out  of  and  upon  the 
railroad  lands.  The  railroad  companies  delay  for 
years  the  taking  of  patents  for  the  lands  confirmed  to 
them,  for  the  special  purpose  of  avoiding  taxation. 
Did  the  railroad  companies,  in  obtaining  these  grants, 
take  the  place  of  the  government  and  become  its  agent 
in  the  disposition  of  the  lands,  upon  the  same  terms 
as  the  government  under  the  homestead  laws,  the  case 
would  be  different.  On  these  terms,  at  the  price  gov- 
ernment has  fixed  for  its  reserved  sections  within  the 
railroad  grants,  two  and  one  half  dollars  per  acre,  the 
Northern  Pacific  Railroad  Company,  and  also  the  At- 
lantic and  Pacific  Company,  would  be  limited  to 
$64,000  per  mile  from  the  sale  of  their  lands.  Inas- 
much as  their  roads  cost  not  more  than  $25,000  per 
mile,  one  who  had  not  been  educated  in  the  ways  of 
such  grants  would  naturally  suppose  such  a  donation 
from  the  government  all  that  could  be  desired.  The 
other  railroad  grants  being  only  forty  miles  wide,  the 
receipts  from  the  land  sales  would  be  limited  to 
$32,000  per  mile  ;  but  still  an  amount  greater  than 
the  cost  of  their  roads,  and  some  have  received  gov- 
ernment loans  in  addition. 

It  would  have  been  far  better  for  the  people,  and 
for  the  government,  that  the  whole  body  of  the  lands 
within  the  railroad  grants,  had  bqen  donated  on  the 
homestead  conditions.  At  the  first  suggestion  such  a 
proposition  might  be  deemed  extravagant.  But  a  lit- 
tle reflection  will  quickly  show  that  it  is  by  no  means 
as  objectionable  as  the  grants  that  have  been  made. 


118  LAND  AND  LABOR. 

In  the  first  place,  under  the  homestead  provisions,  the 
railroad  companies  could  not  have  created  and  fostered 
vast  monopolies  of  the  lands,  nor  have  peopled  the 
public  domain  with  aliens ;  neither  could  they  have 
wholesaled  the  people's  heritage  to  alien  capitalists, 
for  speculation  and  colonization.  The  lands  would 
still  have  been  held  for  homes  for  our  own  people  and 
the  naturalized  citizen.  The  system  of  tenant  farm- 
ing, now  so  prevalent,  would  not  have  received  the 
unnatural  development  that  has  marked  its  growth  in 
the  last  twenty  years,  and  the  railroad  companies 
would  not  have  raked  Europe  for  aliens  to  occupy  the 
people's  lands.  But  the  railroad  companies,  under 
the  grants  as  they  now  stand,  do  all  these  things  that 
are  not  possible  under  the  homestead  provisions,  and 
extort  from  the  people  a  far  greater  amount,  in  their 
speculative  operations,  than  they  would  receive  from 
the  whole  body  of  the  lands  when  disposed  of  under 
the  homestead  provisions.  The  government  does  not 
need  the  revenues  derived  from  the  sale  of  the  lands  ; 
from  other  sources  there  are  abundant  receipts  to  meet 
all  expenditures.  But  good  roads,  by  which  every 
square  mile  of  our  territory  may  be  easily  reached,  are 
of  the  first  importance. 

To  no  better  use  could  the  revenues  derived  from 
the  sale  of  the  public  lands  be  put,  than  to  the  build- 
ing of  a  system  of  railroads  that  would  best  promote 
that  object,  and  for  educational  purposes.  And  the 
true  interests  of  the  railroads  would  be  best  served  in 
having  the  lands  along  their  lines  occupied  in  small 
tracts  by  a  people  who  owned  the  soil  they  cultivated. 
Under  such  a  system  monopolies  of  the  lands  would 


SUMMARY  REMEDIES.  H9 

be  effectually  provided  against,  and  the  people  would 
still  receive  all  the  benefits  to  be  derived  from  the 
homestead  laws,  at  the  additional  cost  of  one  dollar 
and  twenty-five  cents  per  acre,  paid  for  the  advantage 
of  possessing  accessible  railroad  communication. 

But  we  have  not  to  deal  with  what  might  have 
been,  but  with  what  is ;  and  our  real  business  is  to 
find  a  remedy  for  the  evils  brought  upon  us  by  the 
past  unwise  legislation.  Under  present  conditions  a 
general  law  making  provision  for  the  relinquishment, 
by  the  railroad  companies  to  the  United  States,  of  all 
the  lands  within  their  grants  upon  the  outer  half 
thereof,  on  both  sides  of  their  roads,  so  as  to  reduce 
their  grants  to  one  half  their  present  widths,  and  to 
receive  from  the  government,  in  return  for  the  same, 
other  grants  for  the  even,  or  present  government  sec- 
tions, that  would  lie  within  the  reduced  breadth  ot 
their  tracts,  and  bring  all  the  railroad  lands  within 
the  provisions  of  the  homestead  laws,  excepting  only 
the  price,  which  might  be  fixed  at  two  and  one  half 
dollars  per  acre,  as  at  present  on  the  government  sec- 
tions, would  be  a  most  expedient  and  just  measure  to 
both  the  people  and  the  railroad  companies.  A  meas- 
ure of  this  kind  would  go  very  far  towards  correcting 
some  of  the  most  unjust  legislation  of  the  past  twenty 
years,  and  again  place  the  lands  within  reach  of  the 
people,  and  preserve  to  them,  for  a  time,  at  least, 
what  may  yet  remain. 

And,  also,  in  addition  to  the  above,  to  make  pro- 
vision for  a  system  of  railroads  that  shall  open  up  all 
the  lands  of  the  country,  to  be  built  as  they  may  be 
required  by  corporations  or  individuals,  devoting  the 


120  LAND  AND  LABOR. 

lands,  so  far  as  may  be  necessary,  to  that  purpose  and 
the  cause  of  education,  under  the  general  provisions 
of  the  homestead  laws ;  declaring  all  the  roads  in  the 
country  that  carry  passengers  and  transport  freight,  to 
be  highways,  under  the  protection  and  control  of  the 
government ;  and  providing  for  a  board  of  commis- 
sioners to  have  general  charge  of  the  same,  to  regu- 
late the  charges  for  freight  and  passenger  transpor- 
tation, to  establish  regulations  under  which  private 
parties  and  transporters  of  freight  may  attach  their 
own  cars  to  regular  freight  trains,  to  prevent  discrimi- 
nations and  arbitrary  management,  and  obtain  the 
best  possible  service  in  our  domestic  intercourse  and 
transportation,  would  be  of  inestimable  benefit.  Such 
a  measure  is  practicable,  and  would  afford  an  effective 
solution  of  the  great  railroad  problem  that  is  becom- 
ing so  portentous,  and  give  to  the  people  and  business 
of  the  country  the  protection  that  is  required. 

A  measure  of  this  character,  proposed  by  the  gov- 
ernment, with  the  alternative  of  taxation  as  hereinaf- 
ter provided,  would  soon  end  the  land  difficulties  in 
that  quarter.  But,  as  it  is  now,  the  railroad  compa- 
nies obtain  from  the  government  an  absolute  grant  of 
their  lands  as  simple  speculators  and  gamblers,  to  be 
disposed  of  to  such  parties,  in  such  quantities,  on 
such  terms,  conditions,  and  at  such  times  as  they  see 
fit ;  giving  to  their  purchasers  bonds  for  deeds  at 
such  times  as  it  may  suit  their  pleasure  to  receive 
their  patents ;  the  taking  of  the  patents  being  de- 
layed for  years  and  may  be  indefinitely. 

Thus  the  lands  of  the  railroad  companies  and  their 
grantees,  escaping  all  taxation,  bearing  none  of  the 


SUMMARY  REMEDIES.  121 

burdens  of  society,  their  holders  stand  in  the  position 
of  the  very  worst  class  of  speculators,  who  contribute 
nothing  to  the  welfare  of  the  community,  but  are  con- 
tinually absorbing  its  vitality.  As  society  advances 
and  increases,  adding  to  and  increasing  the  value  of 
the  lands  around  them,  they  sit  still  and  increase  cor- 
respondingly the  demands  they  make  for  the  use  or 
possession  of  the  lands  which  they  control.  They 
obtain  grants  and  sell  their  lands  to  aliens  and  mo- 
nopolizers for  still  further  speculation ;  they  hold 
them,  unoccupied  and  unimproved,  for  a  rise,  and 
will  allow  of  no  improvement  or  occupation  until 
they  obtain  their  price,  throwing  all  the  taxation,  all 
the  burdens  of  government,  upon  the  lands  and  im- 
provements of  the  small  farmer ;  upon  his  stock,  his 
tools,  and  his  crops.  Also  upon  the  little  properties 
in  the  neighboring  towns  ;  the  buildings  and  stocks 
of  the  traders  ;  the  dwellings  and  J;ools  of  the  me- 
chanics, etc.  Upon  everything  visible  fall  the  im- 
posts of  the  tax  gatherer,  excepting  only  the  lands 
of  the  railroad  kings  and  the  landed  estates  of  the 
bonanza  farmers.  The  weak  are  made  to  suffer  whilst 
the  strong  altogether  escape.  It  is  a  warfare  upon 
society  and  the  law  protects  them  in  it. 

A  similar  state  of  things  obtains  throughout  the 
country,  on  all  vacant  and  unimproved  lands,  with 
this  difference  ;  that  in  all  other  parts  where  unim- 
proved lands  are  held,  whether  in  town,  city,  or  coun- 
try, there  is  an  assessment  for  taxation,  though  made 
but  nominal,  for  the  special  reason  that  it  is  unim- 
proved. But  the  adjoining  lands,  that  are  improved, 
and  the  unimproved  land,  the  moment  it  goes  into 


122  LAND  AND  LABOR. 

use,  must  pay  double,  triple,  and  quadruple  the 
amount  of  taxes  that  were  imposed  before  the  im- 
proving of  the  same.  This  custom  tends  directly  to 
the  encouragement  of  the  speculator,  and  serves 
equally  to  discourage  occupation  and  improvement. 
Illustrations  of  this  matter  exist  everywhere. 

A  remarkable  case  in  point  may  be  found  in  New 
York  City,  where  the  ancestor  of  a  well  known  fam- 
ily, when  the  city  did  not  extend  above  Canal  Street, 
buried  some  money  in  the  lands  miles  away,  in  the 
interior  of  the  island.  As  time  passed  population 
advanced  northwards  until  it  began  to  gather  around 
those  lands.  Neither  the  original  purchaser  nor  his 
heirs  would  sell  any  portion  of  the  property,  nor  im- 
prove it.  They  were  waiting  for  a  still  greater  in- 
crease in  value,  paying  nominal  taxes  upon  unim- 
proved property,  and  in  no  way  contributing  to  the 
general  welfare,  till  society  had  completely  surrounded 
the  land,  advanced  far  beyond  it,  and  given  it  fabu- 
lous values.  Then  it  was  improved,  the  rents  now 
derived  from  it  being  princely.  By  that  operation  — 
a  speculation  in  direct  opposition  to  the  welfare  of  tho 
community  and  which  society  pays  for —  that  family 
is  possessed  of  the  power  of  plutocrats,  and  an  income 
of  millions. 

This  system  of  taxation  is  not  equitable.  It  is 
against  public  policy,  and  is  a  direct  attack  upon  the 
best  interests  of  the  community.  It  exempts  the 
speculator  from  the  burdens  of  state,  and  throws 
tin-in  all  on  that  portion  of  society  that  does  the  most 
to  contribute  to  the  general  welfare.  It  legalizes  and 
protects  the  dog  in  the  manger  principle  in  the  most 


SUMMARY  REMEDIES.  123 

important  relations  of  social  economy.  It  exempts 
those  who  hold  the  lands  but  will  not  improve  them, 
and  thereby  taxes  the  more  heavily  those  who  make 
the  greatest  improvements.  It  pays  a  premium  upon 
gambling,  and  helps  the  gambler  to  capital  to  pursue 
his  calling,  but  oppresses  the  energetic  business  man 
with  double  burdens.  To  effectually  remedy  the  evils 
attending  tenant  and  bonanza  farming  this  indefensi- 
ble system  of  taxation  must  be  reversed.  It  is  a  sys- 
tem that  found  its  origin  in  the  dark  ages  of'Europe 
when  the  landholders,  at  once  lords  of  the  soil  and 
rulers  of  the  realm,  threw  all  the  burdens  of  govern- 
ment upon  the  landless,  the  people  of  the  towns  and 
cities,  who  were  unable  to  defend  themselves.  Those 
old  customs  have  come  down  to  us  but  little  changed, 
and  from  mere  force  of  habit  our  people  have  acqui- 
esced in  their  use.  But  they  possess  not  one  element 
of  justice  ;  they  are  a  tax  upon  the  many  for  the 
benefit  of  the  few,  and  that  few  are  the  vampires 
of  society. 

All  unimproved  lands,  whether  in  city  or  country, 
which  should  be  held  for  more  than  one  year  without 
being  actually  occupied  and  substantially  improved, 
or  in  actual  process  of  improvement,  in  a  manner  to 
correspond  with  the  property  by  which  it  is  sur- 
rounded, and  to  serve  the  purposes  for  which  it  is 
adapted,  should  be  deemed  speculative  property,  and 
be  assessed  at  its  true  market  value,  and  pay  at  least 
double  the  highest  rate  of  taxation  assessed  upon  the 
nearest  improved  property  of  like  character.  This 
increased  taxation  should  be  laid  as  the  penalty  to  be 
paid  for  holding  land  of  any  description,  unimproved 


124  LAND  AND  LABOR. 

in  conformity  with  the  conditions  by  which  it  is  sur- 
rounded. The  objects  desired  being  to  compel  those 
who  obtain  lands  for  speculative  purposes  to  pay  for 
the  privilege,  and  to  offer  a  premium  for  the  bonajide 
improvement  of  the  lands,  wherever  they  may  be  held. 
For  the  reason  that  the  man  who  goes  into  actual  oc- 
cupation, and  makes  valuable  improvements  upon  the 
land,  is  a  public  benefactor ;  whilst  he  who  holds  land 
without  occupation  and  improvement,  not  only  pre- 
vents others  from  adding  to  the  wealth  of  society  by 
making  improvements  thereon,  but  does  so  with  the 
intent  of  extortion  through  the  necessities  of  society, 
for  which  he  should  make  some  compensation,  even 
though  it  be  inadequate.  And  there  is  still  another 
very  important  reason  why  unimproved  lands  should 
be  thus  taxed.  Under  the  present  system  of  taxation 
the  legal  owners  of  the  lands  compel  the  tenants  and 
occupants  to  pay  the  taxes.  It  is  a  well  recognized 
fact  that  under  present  conditions  all  taxes  are  really 
paid  by  the  noncapitalists.  But  under  the  proposed 
system  the  owners  of  the  unoccupied  and  unimproved 
lands  would  be  compelled  to  pay  their  own  taxes ; 
there  would  be  no  tenants  upon  whom  to  throw  it, 
and  for  once  the  speculative  capitalist  would  be  com- 
pelled to  bear  his  own  burden,  and  make  substantial 
contributions  to  the  support  of  government  and  pro- 

<n  of  society. 

The  railroad  companies  holding  the  large  land 
grants  should  come  under  the  same  rule.  They 
should  have  the  lands  called  for  in  their  grants  set 
apart  and  assessed  to  them  as  their  roads  are  com- 
pleted and  put  in  running  order.  In  case  they  or  any 


SUMMARY  REMEDIES.  125 

of  them  should  refuse  or  neglect  to  pay  their  taxes  in 
pursuance  of  the  provisions  of  the  law,  the  land  com- 
missioner, upon  being  officially  notified  by  the  tax 
collector  of  such  neglect  or  refusal,  should,  without 
delay,  restore  such  lands  to  the  operations  of  the 
homestead  law,  and  make  public  proclamation  of  the 
same.  The  railroad  companies  that  might  feel  ag- 
grieved by  such  action  to  have  their  remedy  by  pro- 
ceedings against  the  Land  Office,  but  no  action  of  any 
nature  to  lie  against  any  settler  who  should  be  found 
in  possession  of  any  of  the  lands  that  lie  within  the 
limits  of  the  grants  so  forfeited  and  restored  to  home- 
stead occupation. 

The  lands  of  the  bonanza  farms  should  also  be 
brought  under  the  same  provisions  and  penalties, 
with  a  special  provision  limiting  the  amount  of  land 
that  might  be  deemed  subject  to  taxation  as  im- 
proved land,  because  of  bona  fide  occupation  and  im- 
provement thereon,  to  one  quarter  section,  or  one 
hundred  and  sixty  acres. 

Under  the  provisions  of  a  law  of  this  nature,  in 
connection  with  an  effective  redistribution  of  labor, 
the  lands  of  the  nation  would  again,  and  that  quickly, 
go  into  the  hands  of  the  people.  The  railroad  com- 
panies would  sell  their  lands  to  the  actual  settler  and 
small  farmer  on  terms  having  the  color  of  equity,  and 
would  not  seek  to  hold  them  indefinitely  in  order  to 
extort  higher  rates.  Or,  if  they  did  so,  they  would  be 
compelled  to  pay  for  the  privilege. 

The  bonanza  farmer  would  hasten  to  cut  up  and 
put  his  lands  into  the  market  for  actual  occupation, 
especially  as  the  provisions  of  the  law  for  the  relief 


126  LAND  AND  LABOR. 

of  tenant  farmers  would  preclude  all  hope  of  further 
speculation  in  that  direction. 

The  provisions  of  the  law  here  proposed  are  in  every 
sense  strictly  equitable,  in  no  sense  restricting  the  just 
rights  and  privileges  of  any  person  or  class,  nor  de- 
priving any  of  property  without  valuable  considera- 
tion and  just  compensation,  nor  rights  nor  privileges 
that  could  in  any  manner  add  to  the  general  welfare. 
No  doubt  such  a  law  would  operate  to  disappoint  the 
expectations  of  many.  But  such  expectations  are  sure 
to  be  based  on  the  preparation  and  hope  for  further 
raids  upon  the  well  being  of  society,  and  they  should 
be  disappointed  and  defeated. 

For  the  relief  of  tenant  farmers  a  law  is  required 
that  will  provide  for  the  assessment  of  all  such  prop- 
erty at  its  true  market  value,  with  provisions  enabling 
any  occupant  of  a  tenant  farm  to  purchase  the  whole 
or  a  portion  of  such  farm  upon  the  following  terms  :  — 
In  case  a  tenant  wished  to  purchase  the  farm  he  occu- 
pied, or  a  part  thereof,  he  should,  in  writing,  notify 
the  proprietor  of  the  desire  to  so  purchase  the  same, 
taking  the  property  at  the  assessed  value  for  purposes 
of  taxation.  By  this  provision  the  common  practice 
of  undervaluing  lands  to  escape  taxation  would  be 
broken  up,  and  that  great  source  of  fraud  would  find 
an  end.  The  tenant  so  purchasing  to  either  pay  in 
cash,  or  turn  over  to  the  proprietor  his  share  of  the 
crops  taken  from  the  soil,  in  payment  therefor,  at  the 
market  rates  of  the  same  at  the  point  of  delivery,  and 
at  the  time  of  the  payment  or  tender.  In  case  full 
payment  for  the  property  should  not  at  once  be  made 
or  tendered,  then  and  in  that  case  the  purchaser  should 


SUMMARY  REMEDIES.  127 

pay  to  the  proprietor  interest  upon  all  deferred  pay- 
ments at  the  lowest  rate  paid  on  the  bonds  of  the 
general  government,  at  the  time  of  the  passage  and 
approval  of  the  law  under  which  the  proceedings  are 
taken.  A  tender  of  the  payments  therein  provided 
for,  if  refused,  should  be  deemed  full  satisfaction  to 
the  amount  of  the  tender.  Whenever  a  tenant  should 
show  to  the  satisfaction  of  any  court  of  record,  that , . 
the  provisions  of  the  act  had  been  complied  with,  and  j' 
the  payments  for  the  farm,  or  a  portion  thereof,  had  • 
been  fully  made  as  provided  therein,  such  court  should 
issue  an  order  to  the  proprietor  of  the  said  farm,  to 
make  a  conveyance  of  the  same  to  the  said  tenant ; 
and  from  the  time  of  the  issuance  of  said  order  the 
said  farm  should  be  deemed  in  law  the  property  of  the 
tenant  so  purchasing. 

Provision  should  also  be  made,  that  on  and  after  the 
first  day  of  January,  1890,  all  payments,  without  in- 
terest, for  rents  of  tenant  farms,  should  be  deemed  in 
law  payments  made  for  the  purchase  of  the  farm  occu- 
pied by  the  tenant  so  paying  or  tendering  ;  and  that 
when  an  amount  had  been  so  paid,  equaling  the  as- 
sessed value  of  the  said  farm  for  purposes  of  taxation, 
or  for  a  portion  thereof,  the  whole  farm,  or  such  part 
as  may  be  fully  paid  for,  to  be  selected  by  the  tenant 
from  the  outer  boundaries  thereof,  should  be  made 
over  to  the  tenant  under  the  conditions  above  stated. 

The  provisions  of  this  proposed  law  are  designed  to 
suggest  a  system  of  summary  actions,  by  which  the 
tenant  farmers  may  become  proprietors  of  the  lands 
they  occupy  at  a  fair  valuation,  and  upon  such  terms 
as  would  come  within  their  ability  to  meet.  The 


128  LAND  AND  LABOR. 

whole  proceedings  taken  to  be  such  as  would  avoid 
the  accumulations  of  cost,  and  the  vexatious  delays 
that  inevitably  tend  to  defeat  all  substantial  relief. 

The  three  measures  here  suggested,  if  adopted,  viz. : 
a  law  restoring  the  public  domain  to  the  action  of 
the  homestead  provisions,  another  regulating  taxa- 
tion, a  law  for  the  cure  of  the  evil  of  tenant  farming, 
and  effective  measures  for  the  redistribution  of  labor, 
would  certainly  have  the  effect  of  calling  all  into  ac- 
tive employment  and  removing  enforced  idleness  and 
poverty  from  the  land  ;  of  breaking  up  the  large 
landed  estates,  and  restoring  the  land  to  the  people, 
for  independent  and  prosperous  homes ;  and  would 
put  an  end  to  tenant  farming. 

Only  one  other  measure  is  required  to  effectually 
break  the  back  of  plutocratic  monopoly  ;  and  that  is, 
a  law  to  compel  the  equal  division  of  estates  among 
the  natural  heirs.  Laws  that  permit  a  parent  to  rob 
any  portion  of  his  children  for  the  benefit  of  others, 
whether  in  or  out  of  the  family,  are  just  as  much 
against  public  policy  as  to  permit  the  betrayal  of  any 
other  trust  with  which  one  may  be  clothed,  by  either 
human  or  Divine  law.  The  parent,  in  this  respect, 
stands  in  the  relation  of  a  trustee  of  interests  which, 
under  the  highest  obligations  that  unite  families  and 
bind  man  to  man,  all  the  children  have  a  natural  and 
equal  right  in  and  to,  and  one  that  a  parent  should 
not  be  permitted  to  ignore  or  violate.  A  parent 
should  possess  testamentary  power  for  adjusting  and 
equalizing  between  his  heirs  the  benefits  that  may 
li.ivc  been  received  and  are  to  come  ;  and  to  make 
provision  for  the  care  of  the  persons  and  portions  of 


SUMMARY  REMEDIES.  129 

those  who,  for  any  cause,  are  incapable  of,  or  unfit  to 
care  for  themselves  ;  but  not  for  the  purpose  of  rob- 
bing some  and  enriching  others. 

Our  fathers,  in  the  adoption  of  the  English  code, 
rejected  the  laws  of  primogeniture  and  entail.  But 
in  framing  testamentary  provisions  in  the  form  in 
which  they  now  exist,  the  evils  of  primogeniture  and 
entail  are  still  practically  reached.  The  building  up 
and  transmission  of  great  estates,  unbroken,  from  one 
generation  to  another,  at  the  cost  and  sacrifice  of  nat- 
ural rights  in  the  family,  and  of  damage  to  society, 
are  as  possible  under  our  testamentary  laws  as  under 
the  old  English  system.  The  difference  between  the 
two  is,  that  under  the  English  system  an  entail  once 
created  may  continue  indefinitely,  through  many  gen- 
erations, and  of  which  every  one  has  full  knowledge  as 
to  its  nature  and  scope.  But  under  our  testamentary 
laws  a  new  will  is  required  for  every  generation,  which 
has  the  dubious  advantage,  if  desired,  of  preventing 
all  knowledge  of  its  bequests  until  after  the  death  of 
the  testator,  and  permits  the  consummation  of  many 
a  device  of  deviltry  without  possibility  of  detection 
until  too  late  for  remedy.  Where  estates  are  settled 
under  the  provisions  of  our  laws,  without  the  inter- 
vention of  wills,  substantial  justice  is  obtained;  but 
the  unlimited  power  that  is  permitted  for  the  unre- 
stricted and  arbitrary  disposition  of  properties  by 
means  of  wills,  is  a  constant'  invitation  to  such  action 
as  will  defeat  the  only  equitable  provisions  in  our 
testamentary  system,  and  the  perpetration  of  the 
greatest  wrongs.  But  the  reason  in  this  connection, 
which  stands  preeminently  above  all  others,  why 


130  LAND  AND  LABOR. 

estates  should  be  equally  divided  among  the  natural 
heirs,  is,  to  prevent  the  accumulation  and  transmis- 
sion of  great  properties,  unbroken,  from  one  genera- 
tion to  another. 

The  measures  here  proposed  are  truly  national; 
they  all  pertain  to  the  "  general  welfare  of  the  United 
States,"  and  can  not  be  left  to  the  diverse  and  non- 
action  of  the  several  States.  Absolute  uniformity  is 
required  in  these  matters,  that  we  may  be  truly  a  ho- 
mogeneous people  —  a  nation.  Indeed,  the  measure 
which  is  most  important  of  all,  if  it  be  possible  to 
separate  them  and  say  which  is  most  important,  can 
not,  by  any  possibility,  be  made  operative  in  any  one 
State  without  the  cooperation  of  all.  They  are  all 
national  in  their  scope,  and  must  be  made  national  in 
action. 

It  will  be  said  that  these  proposed  measures  would 
be  unwarranted  innovations  ;  that  the  laws  and  cus- 
toms which  it  is  proposed  to  change  are  of  time  hon- 
ored precedents  ;  that  they  have  existed  in  their  pres- 
ent written  and  unwritten  forms  for  generations  ;  that 
they  are  hoary  with  age. 

That  is  the  very  point  —  they  are  hoary  with  age  ; 
their  roots  are  found  firmly  embedded  in  the  despot- 
isms and  brutalities  of  the  dark  ages ;  they  are  the 
outgrowths  of  barbarism  that  have  been  perpetuated 
in  tyranny.  It  is  because  they  are  so  hoary  with  age 
that  they  are  tainted  with  oppression  and  smell  so 
strongly  of  blood.  It  is  time  that  they  were  buried, 
;in<l  tli, -it  something  more  merciful,  more  just,  more 
equal,  should  take  their  places. 

Adam  Smith,  in  relation  to  some  of  these  matters, 


SUMMARY  REMEDIES.  131 

in  the  following  quotations  gives  a  very  clear  insight 
into  their  origin  :  — 

"  When  the  German  and  Scythian  nations  overran  the  west- 
ern part  of  the  Roman  empire,  the  confusion  which  followed 
so  great  a  revolution  lasted  for  several  centuries.  The  rapine 
and  violence  which  the  barbarians  exercised  against  the  ancient 
inhabitants,  interrupted  the  commerce  between  the  towns  and 
the  country.  The  towns  were  deserted,  and  the  country  was 
left  uncultivated,  and  the  western  provinces  of  Europe,  which 
had  enjoyed  a  considerable  degree  of  opulence  under  the  Ro- 
man empire,  sunk  into  the  lowest  state  of  poverty  and  barbar- 
ism. During  the  continuance  of  those  confusions,  the  chiefs 
and  principal  leaders  of  those  nations  acquired  or  usurped  to 
themselves  the  greater  part  of  the  lands  of  those  countries.  A 
great  part  of  them  was  uncultivated;  but  no  part  of  them, 
whether  cultivated  or  uncultivated,  was  left  without  a  propri- 
etor. All  of  them  were  engrossed,  and  the  greater  part  by  a 
few  great  proprietors. 

"  This  original  engrossing  of  uncultivated  lands,  though  a 
great,  might  have  been  but  a  transient  evil.  They  might  have 
soon  been  divided  again,  and  broke  into  small  parcels  either 
by  succession  or  by  alienation.  The  law  of  primogeniture  hin- 
dered them  from  being  divided  by  succession ;  the  introduction 
of  entails  prevented  their  being  broke  into  small  parcels  by 
alienation. 

"  When  land,  like  movables,  is  considered  as  the  means  only 
of  subsistence  and  enjoyment,  the  natural  law  of  succession  di- 
vides it,  like  them,  among  all  the  children  of  the  family ;  of  all 
whom  the  subsistence  and  enjoyment  may  be  supposed  equally 
dear  to  the  father.  This  natural  law  of  succession  accordingly 
took  place  among  the  Romans,  who  made  no  more  distinction 
between  elder  and  younger,  between  male  and  female,  in  the  in- 
heritance of  lands  than  we  do  in  the  distribution  of  movables. 
But  when  land  was  considered  as  the  means,  not  of  subsistence 
merely,  but  of  power  and  protection,  it  was  thought  better  that 
it  should  descend  undivided  to  one.  In  those  disorderly  times 


132  LAND  AND  LABOR. 

every  great  landlord  was  a  sort  of  petty  prince.  His  tenants 
•were  his  subjects.  He  was  their  judge,  and  in  some  respects 
their  legislator  in  peace,  and  their  leader  in  war.  He  made 
Avar  at  his  own  discretion,  frequently  against  his  neighbor,  and 
sometimes  against  his  sovereign.  The  security  of  a  landed 
estate,  therefore,  the  protection  which  its  owner  could  afford 
to  those  who  dwelt  on  it,  depended  upon  its  greatness.  To  di- 
vide it  was  to  ruin  it,  and  to  expose  every  part  of  it  to  be  op- 
pressed and  swallowed  up  by  the  incursions  of  its  neighbors. 
The  law  of  primogeniture,  therefore,  came  to  take  place,  not 
immediately,  indeed,  but  in  process  of  time,  in  the  succession 
of  landed  estates,  for  the  same  reasons  that  it  has  generally 
taken  place  in  that  of  monarchies,  though  not  always  at  their 
first  institution Hence  the  origin  of  the  right  of  pri- 
mogeniture, and  of  what  is  called  lineal  succession. 

"  Laws  frequently  continue  in  force  long  after  the  circum- 
stances which  first  gave  occasion  to  them,  and  which  could  alone 
render  them  reasonable,  are  no  more.  In  the  present  state  of 
Europe  the  proprietor  of  a  single  acre  of  land  is  as  perfectly 
secure  of  his  possession  as  the  proprietor  of  a  hundred  thousand. 
The  right  of  primogeniture,  however,  still  continues,  and  as  of 
all  institutions  it  is  the  fittest  to  support  the  pride  of  family 
distinctions,  it  is  likely  to  endure  for  many  centuries.  In  every 
other  respect  nothing  can  be  more  contrary  to  the  real  interest 
of  a  numerous  family  than  a  right  which,  in  order  to  enrich 
one,  beggars  all  the  rest  of  the  children. 

"  Entails  are  the  natural  consequence  of  the  law  of  primo- 
geniture  They  are  formed  upon  the  most  absurd 

of  all  suppositions,  the  supposition  that  every  successive  gene- 
ration of  men  have  not  an  equal  right  to  the  earth,  and  to  all 
that  it  possesses;  but  that  the  present  generation  should  be 
restrained  and  regulated  according  to  the  fancy  of  those  who 
died  perhaps  five  hundred  years  ago."—  Wealth  of  Nations. 

This  is  the  soil  out  of  which  have  grown,  and  these 
are  the  nurserymen  who  have  cultivated  and  ma- 
tured the  laws  and  customs  under  which  we  are  de- 


SUMMARY  REMEDIES.  133 

veloping.  There,  have  heen  some  changes  in  the 
instruments  used  and  methods  of  procedure,  but  the 
results  are  practically  the  same.  The  hands  of  the 
great  proprietors  are  no  longer  shielded  with  gauntlets 
of  iron,  but  are  covered  with  softest  kid,  tipped  with 
finest  furs.  But  the  kid  and  furs  beautifully  disguise 
a  vast  increase  of  active  crushing  power.  They  no 
longer  seize  the  sword  as  the  weapon  of  oppression, 
but  wield  the  pen,  which  is  mightier,  and  are  sup- 
ported by  an  army  of  economic  teachers  who  have 
studied  only  in  the  schools  of  feudalism.  These 
teachers  have  not  yet  learned  anything  of  the  great 
developments  of  the  present  century,  nor  of  their 
causes  or  effects,  but  like  the  barbarians  they  repre- 
sent, would  force  the  people  to  believe  "that  the 
more  the  rich  may  gain  in  wealth  the  more  the  poor 
may  gain  in  comfort." 

Having  transplanted  from  the  old  feudal  nurseries 
their  laws,  and  made  them  our  own,  it  follows,  as  a 
matter  of  necessity,  that  we  must  reach  the  same  re- 
sults, and  we  find  them  in  our  tenant  farms,  our  great 
land  holdings,  our  monopolies,  the  wealth  and  power 
of  the  few,  and  the  miseries  of  the  many.  Our  laws 
and  teachers  having  prepared  the  way  and  laid  the 
foundation  for  these  great  social  evils,  they  have  come 
upon  us  with  the  inexorable  certainty  of  fate.  Do 
the  conditions  under  which  we  live  require  the  longer 
continuance  of  a  system  founded  under  the  circum- 
stances described,  and  with  such  results  ?  There  can 
be  but  one  answer. 

It  must  be  apparent  to  every  thoughtful  person 
that  a  system  of  land  and  labor  laws  that  found  its 


134  LAND  AND  LABOR. 

origin  in  the  barbarisms  and  confusions  of  tbe  middle 
ages,  out  of  which  have  grown  all  the  evils  described, 
is  not  a  good  foundation  for  the  development  and 
growth  of  Republican  Institutions,  nor  the  elevation 
and  improvement  of  the  masses.  Feudal  Laws  and-. 
Republican  Institutions,  with  us,  are  irreconcilable ; 
one  or  the  other  must  and  will  be  changed.  The 
present  tendencies  are  all  in  the  direction  of  the  con- 
centration of  all  the  elements  of  wealth  and  power  in 
the  hands  of  the  few,  and  degradation  of  the  masses. 
These  were  the  peculiar  features  of  feudalism,  and 
have  ever  marked  the  periods  of  greatest  distress  and 
decadence  with  every  people.  Can  we  hope  to  escape 
the  necessary  consequence  of  our  own  barbarous  and  • 
unjust  system  if  we  persist  in  retaining  it  ? 

In  the  remedial  measures  here  proposed  there  is  no 
taint  of  socialism  ;  in  it  I  fail  to  find  any  hope  of  im- 
proved conditions.  Nor  is  there  the  least  color  of 
communism  ;  that,  to  me,  is  far  less  hopeful  than  so- 
cialism. Neither  can  any  action  of  agrarian  laws 
place  our  people  in  the  position  which  would  achieve 
the  best  results  for  humanity. 

What  we  require  is  the  freest  and  fullest  exercise 
of  independent  family  and  individual  relations,  in  all 
business,  educational,  and  social  affairs,  within  a  range 
and  under  such  limitations  as  will  best  protect  the 
weak  from  the  natural  encroachments  of  the  strong, 
and  enable  all  to  share  in  the  blessings  of  well  regu- 
lated society.  Unquestionably,  it  is  in  this  manner 
that  the  "  general  welfare  of  the  United  States  "  can 
be  best  promoted. 

In  seeking  remedies  for  the  cure  of  the  evils  herein 


SUMMARY  REMEDIES.  135 

described,  the  fact  must  be  fully  recognized  that  how- 
ever great  these  evils  may  be,  they  are  the  direct  re- 
sult of  the  action  or  nonaction  of  society,  for  which  it 
is  alone  responsible  ;  and  that  if,  in  applying  its  rem- 
edies, actual  and  undeserved  damage  should  be  in- 
flicted, provision  for  indemnification  should  be  made. 
But  in  no  case  can  society  become  responsible  for  the 
failure  of  any  speculation  or  attack  upon  the  true  in- 
terests of  mankind.  That  whilst  confiscations  are 
uncalled  for  and  unjustifiable,  the  further  sacrifice  of 
the  interests  of  society  for  the  benefit  of  the  few  can 
not  and  will  not  be  endured. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

MACHINERY  IN  TEXTILE  AND   OTHER  MANUFACTURES. 

PREVIOUS  to  the  last  quarter  of  the  past  century 
the  work  of  carding  of  wool  and  cotton,  of  spin- 
ning of  yarn,  and  weaving  of  all  textiles,  were  the 
operations  of  purely  hand  labor.  In  England,  in 
1763,  High  invented  the  spinning  jenny.  Crompton, 
in  1775,  introduced  the  mule  spinner,  and  in  1790 
Arkwright  introduced  the  power  loom.  These  inven- 
tions, with  the  introduction  of  Watt's  engine,  in  1783, 
in  steam  carding  and  spinning,  and  Bell's  cylinder 
printing,  in  1775,  mark  the  commencement  of  the 
world's  use  of  machinery  in  textile  manufactures. 

From  the  very  earliest  period  in  the  history  of  the 
American  Colonies,  not  only  was  domestic  or  house- 
hold manufactures  almost  universal,  but  companies 
were  engaged  in  the  spinning  of  flax,  wool,  and  cot- 
ton. In  1638  a  company  of  Yorkshiremen  settled  in 
Rowley,  Massachusetts,  and  engaged  in  the  business  ; 
and  in  1640  the  General  Court  of  that  Colony  encour- 
aged that  industry  by  bounties,  followed  almost  im- 
mediately by  the  Assembly  of  Connecticut. 

As  early  as  1775  a  spinning  jenny  was  put  in  oper- 
ation in  Philadelphia,  followed  by  beginnings  to  man- 
ufacture by  machinery  in  1780,  in  Worcester,  Massa- 

136 


MACHINERY  IN  TEXTILES.  137 

chusetts  ;  in  East  Bridgewater,  in  1786  ;  in  Beverly, 
in  1787 ;  in  Providence,  Rhode  Island,  in  the  same 
year,  and  in  Baltimore  in  1789.  From  that  time  un- 
til 1813,  though  there  was  great  development  and 
progress  made  in  carding  and  spinning  by  machinery, 
the  weaving  had  been  altogether  confined  to  hand 
looms,  and  much  the  larger  part  of  the  carding  and 
spinning  done  in  our  country  was  upon  the  hand  card 
and  spinning  wheel. 

At  the  beginning  of  the  present  century  substan- 
tially all  our  textiles  were  made  by  hand  labor,  and 
in  the  main  continued  to  be  so  made  during  the  next 
twenty-five  years.  Throughout  our  country  every  farm 
house  possessed  its  loom  and  spinning  wheels.  From 
the  sheep  reared  upon  the  farm  was  the  wool  taken 
and  carded  by  our  mothers,  peady  for  spinning.  The 
flax  grown  upon  the  place  was  by  our  fathers  broken 
and  hatcheled  by  hand,  and  made  ready  for  the  women 
folk,  who,  day  after  day,  week  after  week,  month  in 
and  month  out,  for  fully  or  more  than  one  half  of  the 
year,  were  all  constantly  employed  in  carding,  in  spin- 
ning, and  in  weaving  the  woolen  and  linen  cloths  that 
clothed  the  family,  or  were  traded  at  the  store  for  tea, 
and  coffee,  and  sugar,  or  other  necessaries  or  luxuries 
of  life.  The  household  music  of  that  time  was  the 
hum  of  the  large  spinning  wheel,  that  rose  and  fell  as 
the  spinner  receded  or  advanced,  in  concert  with  the 
more  steady  flow  of  the  tones  of  the  flax  wheel,  as  with 
foot  on  treddle  other  members  of  the  family,  or  women 
servants,  spun  the  flax  which  was  changed  to  linen 
yarn  or  thread.  At  the  same  time  the  constantly  re- 
peated rattle  of  the  shuttle  could  be  heard  as  the 


138  LAND  AND  LABOR. 

dexterous  hand  sent  it  flying  through  the  warp,  to  add 
another  thread  to  the  web,  followed  by  the  stroke  of 
the  swinging  beam.  In  most  of  our  towns  and  cities 
hand  carding,  spinning,  and  weaving  were  established 
trades,  giving  employment  to  large  numbers  of  men, 
women,  and  children. 

In  1813  Francis  C.  Lowell  and  Paul  Moody  made 
the  first  successful  introduction  of  the  power  loom  in 
a  factory  which  they  built  in  Waltham,  Massachu- 
setts, containing  1,700  spindles.  During  the  same 
year  the  Scotch  loom  and  engine  and  dressing  ma- 
chine were  introduced  in  Providence,  Ehode  Island, 
by  William  Gilmour,  from  Glasgow.  The  next  oper- 
ation was  by  P.  T.  Jackson,  Nathan  Appleton,  Kirk 
Boott,  and  others,  in  1822,  in  East  Chelmsford,  now 
Lowell,  Massachusetts.  From  that  time  to  this  there 
has  been  a  constant  and  rapid  development  in  the  in- 
vention, improvement,  and  application  of  machinery 
in  every  description  of  textile  manufactures.  We  will 
examine  some  of  the  leading  facts  upon  this  point. 

The  Frankford  yarn  mill,  in  Philadelphia,  during 
the  month  of  July,  1877,  in  all  its  operations,  from 
the  receipt  of  the  raw  material  to  the  delivery  of  the 
finished  product,  employed  151  persons  of  both  sexes 
and  all  ages.  In  the  twenty- three  and  a  half  days  in 
which  the  mill  run  during  that  month  there  was  pro- 
duced 1,723,433  skeins  of  yarn,  containing  840  yards 
each,  which  gave  for  the  month  a  fraction  over  822,547 
miles  in  length  of  yarn,  or  35,002  miles  a  day.  It  would 
require  61,603  women,  with  the  old  hand  cards  and 
spinning  wheels,  to  produce  the  same  amount  in  the 
same  length  of  time,  1,000  yards  of  yarn,  carded  and 


MACHINERY  IN  TEXTILES.  139 

spun,  having  been  a  day's  task  for  a  day  of  ten  hours, 
with  those  old  machines.  In  my  essay  upon  "  Our 
Labor  Difficulties  "  it  is  estimated  that  it  would  re- 
quire 100,000  women,  with  the  old  hand  cards  and 
spinning  wheels,  to  have  produced  the  amount  of  yarn 
here  reported. 

At  the  time  of  publishing  that  essay  I  had  been 
unable  to  find  any  person  who  had  been  accustomed 
to  the  use  of  the  old  machines  and  tools,  and  who 
knew  what  a  day's  work  by  our  mothers  amounted  to, 
or  any  authority  upon  that  point.  But  in  March, 
1878,  Aunt  Tabitha,  the  spinner  at  the  Spinning  Bees 
of  the  Old  South  Exhibition,  in  Boston,  gave  me  the 
desired  information,  and  I  am  glad  to  be  able  to  place 
the  amount  on  record.  Her  formula  for  stating  the 
day's  work  for  carders  and  spinners  when  she  was  a 
girl  was,  that  40  threads,  2  yards  long,  made  a  knot, 
7  knots  made  a  skein,  and  5  skeins  of  warp,  or  6  skeins 
of  filling,  were  a  day's  work  for  a  spinner  ;  and  that  it 
took  as  long  to  card  the  cotton  or  wool  as  to  spin  it. 
A  day's  work  in  those  times  was  15  to  16  hours. 
This  statement  gives  for  an  average  day's  work  by 
our  mothers  about  3,080  yards  for  two  persons,  one 
carding  and  the  other  spinning,  in  15  hours  ;  or,  say, 
1,000  yards  in  10  hours  for  one  person  performing  both 
operations.  Upon  this  basis  I  make  my  estimate.  I 
was  also  informed  by  Mr.  Richard  Garced,  the  pro- 
prietor of  the  mill,  that  he  was  then  employing  only 
one  half  the  number  of  hands  that  were  employed  in 
1872,  though  turning  out  fully  as  much  work,  having 
since  that  time  refurnished  the  mill  with  new  ma- 
chinery. 


140  LAND  AND  LABOR. 

This  statement  shows  a  displacement  of  50  per 
cent,  of  the  former  employes  in  that  mill  by  improve- 
ments in  its  machinery  in  the  five  years  between  1872 
and  1877 ;  and  that  one  person,  with  improved  ma- 
chinery, now  fills  the  place  and  does  the  work  that 
required  408  carders  and  spinners  with  the  tools  and 
machinery  in  common  use  at  the  close  of  the  first 
quarter  of  the  present  century. 

At  a  meeting  of  the  New  England  Cotton  Manu- 
facturers Association,  held  in  Boston,  October  5, 1876, 
Mr.  Wm.  A.  Burke,  Treasurer  of  the  Lowell  Machine 
Shop  Company,  read  a  paper  upon  the  "  Cost  of  Man- 
ufacturing Drillings  and  Standard  Sheetings  in  1838 
and  1876."  In  this  paper  Mr.  Burke  took  the  Boott 
Mill  No.  1,  in  Lowell,  as  a  type  for  his  illustration. 
In  this  mill,  in  1838,  there  were  232  operatives  em- 
ployed 12|  hours  a  day  for  24  days  in  May,  who  pro- 
duced 208,606  yards  of  cloth.  But  in  1876,  90  opera- 
tives, the  number  then  employed,  working  10  hours  a 
day,  produced  204,863  yards.  Keducing  the  12f  hours 
of  1838  to  10  hours  a  day,  the  working  time  of  1876, 
shows  that  it  would  have  required  295  operatives  in 
1838,  working  10  hours  a  day,  to  produce  but  a  small 
fraction  more  than  90  operatives  produced  in  the  same 
number  of  days,  in  the  same  mill,  in  1876.  Here  is 
shown  a  displacement,  by  improvements  in  the  ma- 
chinery of  one  mill,  within  the  last  40  years,  of  70  per 
cent,  of  the  manual  labor  in  the  production  of  cotton 
fabrics.  Mr.  Burke  stated  that  "  this  improvement," 
i.  e.,  the  displacement  of  muscle,  "  had  been  obtained 
by  larger  mills,  improvements  in  the  construction 
and  workmanship  of  machinery,  and  many  important 


MACHINERY  IN  TEXTILES.  141 

inventions  and  attachments  to  save  labor  and  perfect 
work  ;  the  number  of  looms  a  weaver  is  now  able  to 
tend  having  more  than  doubled.  In  1838  two  looms 
to  a  weaver  was  the  rule,  though  there  were  cases  of 
three  or  more  being  tended  by  one  person.  Now,  the 
practice  is  for  four  to  six,  and  even  eight  looms  to  be 
run  by  one  weaver,"  etc.  He  further  stated  that, 
"  Since  1861  all  the  mills  owned  by  the  Boott  Cotton 
Mills  have  been  renovated  and  enlarged,  supplied  with 
additional  motive  power,  new  shafting,  and  an  entirely 
new  suit  of  machinery,  of  the  latest  construction,  ar- 
ranged for  the  greatest  economy  in  operating  ;  "  which 
means  for  the  least  possible  employment  of  manual 
labor. 

Mr.  Edward  Atkinson,  of  Boston,  during  the  dis- 
cussion at  that  meeting,  said,  "  A  man  who  owned  a 
mill  of  the  style  of  1838  to-day  would  be  a  bankrupt. 
He  could  not  run  it.  The  whole  success  depends  on 
the  constant  adoption  of  new  and  improved  machin- 
ery. The  machines  have  become  more  distinctly  self 
operative,  requiring  only  to  be  kept  in  order,  and  kept 
up  by  oversight,  rather  than  by  the  actual  work  of 
those  who  tend  them." 

In  Fall  River  the  rule  is  eight  looms  to  the  weaver, 
run  at  a  speed  that  gives  44  cuts  of  45  yards  each  per 
week,  making  1,980  yards  per  week  for  each  weaver, 
or  330  yards  a  day.  Our  mothers  could  weave  upon 
their  looms  about  3  yards  in  10  hours  of  work.  So 
that  in  weaving  there  has  been  not  only  a  displace- 
ment of  75  .per  cent,  of  muscle  in  our  mills  in  the  last 
40  years,  mostly  within  the  last  15,  but  to-day  one 
girl  weaver  with  her  improved  machine  looms  stands 


142  LAND  AND  LABOR. 

in  the  place  that  would  have  required  100  women  in 
our  mothers'  time  to  fill. 

The  development  in  the  production  of  cotton  goods, 
by  improvements  in  machinery,  with  the  displacement 
of  muscular  labor,  is  exhibited  by  the  Massachusetts 
reports  of  1875,  which  show  that  the  average  time 
worked  by  factory  operatives  was  then  very  nearly  9 
months  in  the  year,  and  for  10  hours  a  day.  In  the 
year  ending  with  May,  1865,  work  was  constant,  for 
12  or  more  hours  daily.  Making  the  adjustment  here 
required,  both  for  lost  time  and  shorter  hours,  in  order 
that  a  true  comparative  exhibit  may  be  obtained,  will 
show  that  while  it  required  the  labor  of  24,151  opera- 
tives, in  1865,  to  produce  175,875,934  yards  of  cloth, 
in  1875,  31,707  operatives,  working  the  same  number 
of  hours  daily  as  were  worked  in  1865,  would  produce 
874,780,874  yards.  That  while  the  product  has  in- 
creased 397  per  cent.,  the  increase  in  manual  labor  had 
been  only  31  per  cent. ;  that  is  to  say,  that  the  increase 
in  product  had  been  more  than  twelve  times  greater 
than  the  increased  employment  of  labor,  in  the  pre- 
ceding ten  years. 

In  woolen  goods,  the  Reports  of  the  Massachusetts 
Bureau  of  Statistics  of  Labor,  for  1875,  states  that,  in 
1865,  18,753  operatives  produced  46,008,141  yards  ; 
but  that  in  1875,  90,208,280  yards  were  produced  by 
19,076  operatives.  This  shows  an  apparent  increase 
in  muscular  employment  of  283  operatives.  But  to 
make  a  true  comparative  showing  by  this  statement  a 
most  important  adjustment  is  necessary.  In  1865  the 
working  time  was  not  less  than  12  hours  a  day  ;  but 
in  1875  it  was  by  statute  limited  to  10.  But  making 


MACHINERY  IN  TEXTILES,  143 

the  same  adjustment  in  woolens  as  has  been  made  in 
cottons,  and  for  the  same  reasons,  will  show  that 
while  it  required  18,753  operatives  in  1865  to  pro- 
duce 46,008,141  yards  of  cloth,  in  1875,  11,550  oper- 
atives would  have  produced  90,208,280  yards  in  the 
same  time.  Showing  at  once,  not  only  an  absolute 
reduction  of  38  per  cent,  in  the  muscular  labor  em- 
ployed, but  an  increase  of  98  per  cent,  in  the  product. 
These  great  developments  in  cotton  and  woolen  tex- 
tiles were  for  the  ten  years  from  1865  to  1875.  For  the 
eight  years  since  1875  the  increase  in  production  from 
the  continued  improvements  in  machinery  has  contin- 
ued, but  probably  not  in  so  marked  a  degree.  The 
statistics  upon  this  point  by  the  Census  of  1880  I 
have  not  yet  been  able  to  reach. 

In  these  two  great  productions  of  cotton  and  woolen 
cloths,  though  there  had  been  an  increased  average 
product  of  nearly  450  per  cent,  in  one  decade,  there 
was,  in  the  same  period,  an  absolute  decrease  in  mus- 
cular employment  equal  to  the  labor  of  353  operatives. 

Full  40  years  ago  machine  cards,  spinners,  and 
looms  had  utterly  destroyed  all  our  domestic  or 
household  manufactures,  and  compelled  those  who 
were  engaged  in  them,  the  sons  and  daughters  of  our 
farms  and  rural  districts,  to  find  employment  in  the 
mills  of  our  manufacturing  towns  and  cities,  or  to  live 
in  idleness  and  consequent  misery.  Since  that  time 
70  per  cent,  of  the  hand  labor  then  required  in  tho 
mills  in  the  production  of  textile  fabrics  has  been  dis- 
placed by  improvements  in  their  machinery,  whilst,  at 
the  same  time,  production  has  been  greatly  increased. 
What  has  been  done  in  the  Philadelphia  yarn  mill, 


144  LAND  AND  LABOR. 

and  in  the  Boott  mills,  in  Lowell,  lias  been  done  and 
is  still  doing  in  every  mill  in  our  country. 

In  every  business  or  industry  requiring  force  there 
is  found  a  substitution  of  mechanical  in  place  of  mus- 
cular power  similar  to  that  which  has  been  shown  to 
have  taken  place  in  agriculture  and  in  the  production 
of  textile  fabrics.  It  will  be  sufficient  for  the  present 
purpose  to  briefly  refer  to  the  general  results  attained 
in  a  few  of  the  myriad  industries  in  which  machinery 
is  now  the  great  producing  agent. 

There  is  no  direction  in  which  mechanical  force  has 
wrought  a  greater  revolution  than  in  that  of  the  pro- 
duction and  manufacture  of  iron  and  steel,  and  the 
adaptation  of  those  two  metals  to  all  the  varied  uses 
of  mankind.  So  great  and  multifarious  have  been 
the  advances  in  their  use,  in  every  direction  —  in  the 
construction  of  naval  and  merchant  shipping;  in 
colossal  artillery  and  in  all  the  enginery  of  war ;  in 
bridges,  railways,  locomotives,  steam  engines,  farming 
implements,  and  tools  of  every  description,  down  to 
what  is  by  no  means  the  least  ingenious,  wonderful, 
or  useful  —  the  production  of  the  stamped  pots,  pans, 
plates,  basins,  cups,  and  the  thousand  and  one  other 
uses  to  which  iron  and  steel  are  applied,  under  the 
power  of  mechanical  force,  that  they  defy  description 
or  examination.  The  stride  of  the  present  century, 
from  the  primitive  blast  furnace  and  blacksmith's 
forge  and  anvil,  with  the  crude  and  inefficient  hand 
bellows,  to  the  gigantic  rolling  mills,  machine  shops, 
and  pot  and  pan  factories  of  to-day  are  marvels  of 
the  age,  and  make  it  quite  impossible  to  form  a  just 
idea  of  how  great  has  been  the  advance  in  this  clasa 


MACHINERY  IN  PRINTING.  145 

of  mechanical  power  over  that  of  the  muscular  force 
of  the  past  century. 

In  Loot  and  shoe  making  one  man,  with  the  tools 
and  machinery  now  in  use  in  that  industry,  turns  out 
three  thousand  pairs  of  hoots  and  shoes  in  a  year, 
where  fifty  years  ago  he  could  produce  not  more  than 
two  hundred  pairs. 

In  huikling  and  carpentry  the  planing  machine  will 
do  the  work  of  at  least  fifteen  to  twenty  men  with 
hand  planes  ;  the  circular  saw  more  than  fills  the 
place  of  a  dozen  men  with  hand  saws  ;  the  molding 
machine  will  cut  more  moldings  than  can  ten  men 
with  the  old  tools.  So  with  the  jig  saw,  the  band 
saw,  the  mortising  machine,  and  the  many  other  ma- 
chines in  use  in  wood  work. 

The  sewing  machine  has  taken  the  place  of  the 
hand  needle,  one  woman  now  doing  the  work  that  hut 
a  short  time  ago  would  require  at  least  a  dozen. 

Machinery,  in  some  half  dozen  establishments  in 
our  country,  now  makes  the  watches  for  the  world, 
having  quite  demoralized  that  great  industry  in  Swit- 
zerland, France,  and  England. 

In  printing,  at  the  beginning  of  the  century,  all  the 
books,  papers,  and  other  work,  were  done  upon  the 
hand  press,  directly  from  the  type.  The  limit  of  pro- 
duction, from  one  press,  worked  by  two  men,  was  two 
hundred  and  fifty  impressions  an  hour,  of  two  pages 
not  larger  than  one  side  of  the  New  York  Sun ;  thus 
limiting  the  possible  issue  of  any  daily  paper  to  about 
two  thousand  copies.  The  presses  now  in  common 
use  in  our  large  newspaper  establishments  will  give 
thirty  thousand  impressions,  or  fifteen  thousand  per- 


146  LAND  AND  LABOR. 

fected  papers  in  an  hour,  all  nicely  folded,  with  no 
limit  as  to  size.  To-day,  by  the  improvement  in  the 
presses,  and  the  invention  and  use  of  the  processes  of 
stereotyping,  with  no  change  in  type  setting,  in  the 
great  newspaper  establishments,  seventy-five  men  are 
actually  doing  the  work  that  would  have  required  the 
labor  of  at  least  ten  thousand  to  accomplish  at  the 
beginning  of  the  present  century,  and  which  may  be 
extended  to  double  and  quadruple  the  present  amount 
by  the  labor  of  half  a  dozen  additional  men. 

So  in  every  direction  has  machinery  supplanted  the 
use  of  muscle  in  the  work  of  production  and  distribu- 
tion, and  wherever  else  force  is  used,  solely  for  the 
purpose  of  man's  consumption.  Even  in  the  horse  car 
stables  in  Philadelphia,  machinery  has  been  brought 
into  use  to  run  the  brushes  in  cleansing  the  horses, 
with  a  large  saving  of  manual  labor. 

These  illustrations  should  sufficiently  indicate  the 
revolution  that  has  been  wrought  in  the  production 
of  everything  that  enters  into  man's  consumption  — 
the  displacement  of  muscle  by  the  use  of  machinery 
—  and  the  imperative  necessity  that  has  arisen  to  de- 
vise some  means  by  which  consumption  shall  be  cor- 
respondingly developed,  if  possible,  and  that  man  be 
protected  from  the  evils  of  idleness. 

Before  1860,  more  than  twenty  years  ago,  the  in- 
ventions and  improvements  in  machinery  had  created 
armies  of  idlers  and  beggars  who  filled  the  country 
with  tlirir  cries  for  work.  But  the  operations  of  the 
\\ar  <>f  tin-  rebellion  suddenly  called  all  the  idlers  into 
active  employment,  and  for  four  years  ihore  was  work 
for  all.  But  during  and  since  the  war  the  power  of 


MACHINERY  IN  PRODUCTION.  147 

machinery  has  been  much  more  than  doubled  ;  the 
number  of  idlers  has  been  increased  in  like  proportion, 
and  again  the  cry  for  work  comes  up  from  millions  of 
our  people  and  fills  the  whole  land.  Under  present 
tendencies  the  idleness  must  increase  and  the  cry  swell 
in  volume  and  force,  for  at  no  previous  time  has  the 
continued  displacement  of  muscle  by  machinery  been 
so  rapid  as  at  the  present.  The  whole  movement,  from 
the  beginning,  has  been  marked  by  a  constant  accele- 
ration, and  at  no  time  more  distinctly  than  within  the 
last  twenty  years. 

To-day  there  is  heard  the  wailing  of  great  multi- 
tudes for  work — for  work  that  they  may  live.  It 
comes  from  the  strong  and  from  the  weak  ;  from  the 
skilled  and  from  the  unskilled  ;  from  the  old  and  the 
young  ;  from  the  cultured  and  from  the  uncultured  ; 
from  mothers  and  from  daughters  ;  from  fathers  and 
from  sons ;  even  from  babes  and  infants  of  six  and 
eight  years.  The  wail  is  everywhere  —  on  our  streets, 
at  our  doors,  in  our  halls  and  houses  ;  in  our  churches, 
and  offices,  and  factories,  and  shops,  and  stores — for 
"  work,  work  or  we  die."  For  want  of  it  our  people 
are  dying  daily  ;  some  by  the  slow  process  of  starva- 
tion, others  by  their  own  hands.  The  same  want  fills 
our  streets  with  prostitution  and  crime ;  our  insane 
asylums  to  overflowing,  and  our  reformatories  and 
penal  institutions  beyond  their  capacity.  It  is  the 
direct  cause  of  the  increase  of  all  the  evils  of  intem- 
perance, and  the  great  barrier  to  every  reform.  It  is 
heard  in  every  country,  but  in  none  so  loudly  as  in 
our  own. 

Manifestly  the  great  increase  in  man's  productive 


148  LAND  AND  LABOR. 

power,  and  ability  to  provide  for  and  "  insure  his 
daily  subsistence/'  has  not  been  attended  by  a  corre- 
spondingly improved  condition  of  the  great  masses  of 
the  people,  and  an  advance  in  the  general  tone  of  so- 
ciety ;  but,  on  the  contrary,  it  has  served  to  suddenly 
place  enormous  wealth  in  the  hands  of  the  few,  and 
to  bring  corresponding  destitution  and  distress  on  the 
many. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

EFFECTS  OF  THE  WAR  OF  THE  REBELLION  UPON  THE 
LABOR  OF  THE  COUNTRY. 

rilHE  war  of  the  rebellion  marks  a  period  of  very 
-L  important  changes  in  our  industrial  and  social 
conditions,  coming  upon  us,  as  it  did,  after  forty  years 
of  mechanical  development  in  the  direction  and  with 
the  effects  herein  partially  described.  The  beginning 
of  the  year  1861  found  the  people  of  our  country  in 
the  greatest  distress,  which  had  been  for  years  increas- 
ing and  intensifying.  Thousands  of  operatives  were 
out  of  employment  and  destitute,  begging,  clamoring 
for  bread,  and  perishing  with  cold  and  hunger ;  whilst 
those  who  were  fully  or  partially  employed  were  in 
receipt  of  wages  that  would  hardly  supply  the  barest 
necessaries  of  life.  Trade  and  business  of  every  nature 
suffered  in  common  with  the  industries  of  the  country, 
and  distress  and  demoralization  everywhere  prevailed. 
Whilst  the  country  was  in  this  condition  hostilities 
commenced,  and  a  call  was  made  for  75,000  men  in  the 
North;  shortly  afterwards  300,000  more  were  enlisted  ; 
then  more,  and  more,  until  all  the  late  idle  and  par- 
tially employed  men  and  women  in  the  country  had 
been  gathered  into  the  army,  or  some  industry,  and 
were  paid  an  amount  that  enabled  all  to  live  more 
liberally,  more  comfortably  than  ever  before.  Not 

149 


150  LAND  AND  LABOR. 

for  full  forty  years  had  our  people  in  the  North  been 
so  generally  employed,  nor  so  abundantly  supplied 
with  all  the  necessaries  and  conveniences  of  life  as 
during  the  last  three  years  of  the  war  of  the  rebel- 
lion, and  for  a  short  period  after  its  close.  Only  one 
thing  marred  the  general  happiness  —  the  sickness, 
wounds,  and  deaths  that  war  carries  to  so  many 
households. 

The  first  half  of  the  year  1865  found  all  the  men 
and  women  in  our  country  in  active  and  remunerative 
employment  —  none  were  idle.  The  four  years  of 
universal  employment  in  the  northern  States  enabled 
all  to  pay  the  indebtednesses  and  square  the  accounts 
of  the  period  before  the  war,  and  enter  the  second 
half  of  1865  with  no  private  debts,  but  largely  in- 
creased powers  of  production  and  distribution. 

One  would  think  that,  with  this  statement  of  facts, 
the  future  of  our  people  must  have  been  all  that  could 
be  desired.  But  with  the  close  of  the  war  there  came 
a  change  of  the  greatest  importance.  During  the  first 
months  of  the  year  1865  all  were  employed  and  receiv- 
ing compensations  that  gave  to  all  a  generous  support ; 
but  at  the  close  of  the  year  millions  had  been  thrown 
out  of  employment  into  idleness,  and  left  without  any 
industrial  means  of  subsistence. 

I  have  made  an  effort  to  see  how  great  was  the 
number  who  so  quickly  passed  from  well  compensated 
employments  into  absolute  idleness  —  from  plenty  to 
penury. 

Whilst  in  Washington,  during  the  winter  of  1878 
and  79, 1  obtained  from  the  Secretaries  of  War  and 
the  Navy,  from  the  Quartermaster  General  and  heads 


EFFECTS   OF  THE  WAR   ON  LABOR.        151 

of  other  bureaux,  the  best  estimates  obtainable  within 
a  limited  time  of  the  forces  employed  by  government  in 
the  war  of  the  rebellion,  and  the  reduction  which  has 
since  been  made.  I  can  not  do  better  than  to  quote  in 
full  the  statement  of  Quartermaster  General  Meigs  :  — 

WAR  DEPARTMENT  —  QUARTERMASTER  GENERAL'S  OFFICE. 

Washington,  D.  C.,  January  13,  1879. 

It  is  estimated  that  at  the  close  of  the  rebellion  there  were  in 
the  armies  of  the  United  States  not  less  than  1,800,000  enlisted 
men,  487,000  horses,  305,000  mules,  and  130,000  civilians,  hired 
as  teamsters,  laborers,  and  servants  to  officers,  etc.,  to  do  the 
civil  work  of  the  army  in  the  Quartermaster's  Department. 

This  is  exclusive  of  all  those  citizens  who  were  employed 
upon  railroads  not  under  military  management,  in  mills  and 
factories,  and  workshops,  building  wagons  and  cars,  and  mak- 
ing cloth  and  clothing,  or  gathering  crops  of  grain,  hay,  and 
other  agricultural  products  to  be  consumed  by  the  army. 

Nor  does  it  include  the-  persons  employed  by  the  Engineer 
Department,  the  Ordnance  Department,  or  the  Commissary 
"Department.  It  includes  only  the  enlisted  men  and  officers, 
their  servants,  and  the  civilians  hired  and  paid  by  the  Quarter- 
master's Department. 

M.  C.  MEIGS, 

Quartermaster  General, 
Br'tft  Major  General,  U.  S.  A. 
MR.  W.  GODWIN  MOODY, 

Boston,  Mass. 

At  the  time  of  receiving  the  above  statement  Gen- 
eral Meigs  said  to  me  that  his  observation  and  experi- 
ence during  the  war  convinced  him  that  at  least  one 
fifth  of  the  able  bodied  men  of  the  North  were  en- 
listed or  employed  in  the  immediate  service  of  the 
army,  and  that  another  fifth  were  employed  in  fur- 
nishing them  with  material  and  subsistence. 


152  LAND  AND  LABOR. 

To  the  above  figures,  as  received  from  the  Quarter- 
master General,  I  add  9,834  employed  in  the  Ord- 
nance bureau  of  the  War  Department,  11,025  in  -the 
bureau  of  Engineers,  and  82,270  employed  in  the 
Navy  Department ;  making  a  total  of  1,533,129  men 
employed  by  government  in  those  departments  at  or 
near  the  close  of  the  war.  The  number  employed  in 
the  bureau  of  the  Commissary  of  Subsistence,  and  of 
the  Pay  Office,  which  I  did  not  obtain,  would  no 
doubt  increase  the  total  number  to  fully  1,550,000 
men,  at  that  time  in  those  services,  as  against  25,000 
men  now  in  the  army,  and  about  7,000  in  the  navy. 
Neither  was  I  able  to  obtain  any  statement  as  to  the 
number  employed  in  the  construction  of  heavy  ord- 
nance for  the  army  or  navy,  nor  for  vessels  of  war, 
where  furnished  by  private  individuals  or  companies. 

These  statements  and  estimates  show  that  in  the 
North  alone  at  least  one  million  five  hundred  thou- 
sand soldiers,  and  civilians  with  the  armies  who  had 
been  employed  in  the  service  of  the  government,  by 
the  close  of  the  war  of  the  rebellion  found  their  occu- 
pations gone  and  themselves  in  idleness. 

An  equal  number  of  persons,  as  estimated  by  Quar- 
termaster General  Meigs,  and  as  generally  estimated 
in  the  European  armies,  were  employed  in  the  supply 
of  war  material  and  subsistence ;  or,  as  stated  by  a 
late  Secretary  of  the  Interior,  in  September,  1878,  in 
his  Cincinnati  speech,  in  the  "  large  industries  minis- 
tering to  the  work  of  destruction."  To  this  host  must 
be  added  the  great  numbers  employed  in  the  Sanitary 
and  Christian  Commissions,  and  other  voluntary  or- 
ganizations, receiving  their  employment  and  subsist- 


EFFECTS  OF  THE  WAR    ON  LABOR.         153 

cnce  through  the  operations  of  the  war  ;  traders  and 
camp  followers,  and  armies  of  fugitives  and  refugees, 
estimated  by  hundreds  of  thousands  ;  in  all  swelling 
the  grand  total  of  those  dependent  on  the  war  for  em- 
ployment and  subsistence  to  fully  three  and  one  half 
millions  of  persons  in  the  North,  or  quite  one  half  of 
its  whole  industrial  population,  who,  in  1865,  by  the 
ending  of  the  war  were  deprived  of  their  employments 
and  means  of  subsistence,  and  thrown  into  idleness. 

By  adding  to  this  amount  the  number  who  were 
similarly  affected  in  the  South,  we  find  that  we  have 
had  in  our  country  more  than  four  millions  who  found 
their  occupations  gone  by  the  close  of  the  war,  and 
who  were  compelled  to  find  new  employments  or  re- 
main idle. 

These  enormous  bodies  of  men,  animals,  and  the 
machinery  that  were  used  in  the  destructive  employ- 
ments of  the  war,  were  the  tremendous  forces  that,  to 
find  employment  and  subsistence,  were  at  once  hurled 
back  upon  the  peaceful  industries  of  the  country,  that 
had  already  been  developed  far  beyond  the  normal 
requirements  of  the  people  by  the  abnormal  demands 
of  the  preceding  four  years. 

It  must  be  noted  that  at  the  time  when  one  half  of 
the  producing  force  of  the  North  had  been  taken  from 
the  normal  industries  of  peace,  and  were  employed  in 
the  occupations  of  war,  with  its  enormous  consump- 
tion and  destruction,  the  other  half,  who  still  re- 
mained in  the  peaceful  industries,  not  only  fully  sup- 
plied all  the  demands  of  society  and  more  than  made 
good  all  the  waste  and  destruction  of  the  war,  but 
they  also  enabled  the  whole  people  to  live  in  greater 


154  LAND  AND  LABOR. 

abundance  and  comfort  than  ever  before.  One  half 
of  our  people  furnished  abundant  subsistence  and 
comfort  for  the  whole  at  the  very  time  when  the  nor- 
mal and  abnormal  demands  for  consumption  were  the 
greatest ;  and,  consequently,  at  the  close  of  the  war 
there  was  no  demand  for  the  services  of  those  who  had 
been  engaged  in  it  either  as  enlisted  men  or  otherwise, 
to  help  in  the  work  of  providing  for  the  sustenance 
and  comfort  of  society. 

An  incident  marking  the  great  development  and 
power  of  our  normal  industries  during  the  war,  and 
the  abundance  and  wealth  of  our  products,  was,  that 
in  the  midst  of  the  most  tremendous  throes  of  that 
great  struggle,  when  it  was  learned  that  the  work 
people  of  Lancashire  were  hungry  and  in  great  distress 
for  want  of  cotton  to  work  upon,  our  southern  ports 
being  blockaded  and  little  cotton  exported,  we  loaded 
three  ships  with  cargoes  of  food  from  our  wealth  of 
abundance,  and  sent  the  means  of  life  and  comfort  to 
a  suffering  and  distant  people.  Still  more  recently 
the  people  of  Lancashire  and  all  England  have  again 
been  hungry  and  distressed,  with  plenty  of  cotton  and 
other  material  to  work  upon  ;  but  our  people,  though 
in  a  state  of  profound  peace  and  burdened  with  the 
greatest  abundance  of  everything  necessary  for  the  life 
and  comfort  of  all,  were  still  too  poor  to  feed  our  own 
hungry  or  help  their  distress.  Our  people  are  also 
idle  and  poorly  paid. 

The  great  industrial  change  that  reduced  four  mil- 
lions of  persons  from  abundant  employment  to  idle- 
ness was  mainly  accomplished  within  one  hundred 
and  twenty  days  after  the  signing  of  the  capitulation 


EFFECTS  OF  THE  WAR   ON  LABOR.         155 

at  Appomatox  Court  House.  A  change  greater,  more 
rapidly  made,  and  of  more  momentous  consequences 
than  the  world  ever  before  witnessed  ;  an  event  that 
demoralized  our  whole  industrial  and  trade  interests. 

The  idleness  that  was  developed  by  this  great  and 
sudden  change  came  upon  us  in  the  very  hight  of  our 
greatest  prosperity ;  it  was  like  a  flood,  with  its  wa- 
ters spread  over  the  face  of  the  whole  country,  which 
are  still  rising  and  washing  and  wearing  away  the 
foundations  of  all  prosperity  and  filling  the  nation 
with  ruined  fortunes  and  dead  and  blasted  hopes. 

It  is  not  possible  for  the  condition  of  things  here 
noted  to  occur  under  the  European  systems.  The 
great  armies  of  those  nations  are  never  disbanded  en 
masse,  and  turned  in  upon  the  nation  to  find  employ- 
ment or  be  idle,  as  best  they  may.  There,  in  peace  as 
in  war,  the  great  body  of  men  who  are  not  required 
in  productive  pursuits  find  occupation  and  sustenance 
under  their  military  systems,  and  thus  are  those  na- 
tions, in  very  large  measure,  preserved  from  those 
perils  by  which  we  are  surrounded.  If,  at  the  close 
of  the  late  Franco-German  war  the  great  armies  of 
those  nations  had  been  at  once,  and  permanently  dis- 
banded, the  industrial  distress  which  now  exists  in 
each  would  have  so  multiplied  as  inevitably  to  have 
destroyed  both.  These  economic  facts  and  principles 
are  well  understood  and  acted  upon  by  the  governing 
powers  in  Europe  ;  but  our  ward  politicians  and  feu- 
dal economists  have  yet  to  obtain  their  first  idea  of 
these  self  evident  principles. 

Of  the  great  number  thus  enforced  to  idleness,  from 
the  armies  and  abnormal  industries  of  the  North 


156  LAND  AND  LABOR. 

alone,  at  least  two  and  one  half  millions  were  men 
immediately  dependent  upon  their  employments  for 
subsistence  for  themselves  and  their  families,  or  others 
relying  on  them  for  support.  Out  of  this  two  and 
one  half  millions  of  unemployed  men  not  more  than 
five  hundred  thousand  ever  found  employment  in  new 
or  more  largely  developed  industries  —  in  railroad 
"building  and  municipal  work  (see  Edward  Atkinson's 
Industrial  Redistribution  in  the  International  Re- 
view), and  that  for  a  very  short  period,  which  ended 
in  1873,  leaving  entirely  unaccounted  for  at  least  two 
million  persons. 

The  returned  soldiers  were  of  the  most  able  men  in 
our  country,  developed  and  disciplined  by  military 
service,  who  could  not  and  would  not  remain  idle  if 
work  could  be  found  or  made.  The  workmen  thrown 
out  of  the  abnormal  industries  were  the  equals  of 
those  still  engaged  in  the  normal  employments,  and 
they,  also,  could  exist  only  by  work.  The  absolute 
necessities  of  all  compelled  the  effort  to  find  employ- 
ment somewhere,  in  something,  that  they  and  those 
dependent  on  them  might  live. 

So  far  as  possible  the  machinery  and  muscle  that 
had  been  "  ministering  to  the  work  of  destruction " 
were  turned  to  the  work  of  ministering  to  the  normal 
wants  and  comforts  of  society.  Many  went  to  the 
western  lands  and  became  farmers  ;  hundreds  of  thou- 
sands sought  trade  and  brokerage  as  middlemen,  as 
will  be  seen  in  the  enormous  increase  of  traders  shown 
in  the  chapter  on  money  ;  still  others  dipped  into  any 
and  every  speculation  that  could  be  devised.  Yet 
many  failed  in  finding  or  devising  any  employment, 


EFFECTS   OF  THE  WAR   ON  LABOR.        157 

and  remained  idle,  whilst  with  all  there  has  been  the 
utmost  uncertainty  in  all  their  employments. 

Although  at  the  close  of  the  war  almost  every  per- 
son had  some  small  means  at  command,  it  could  not 
long  continue  as  their  only  support,  and  at  best  was 
altogether  insufficient  to  establish  new  businesses, 
when  the  opportunities  were  found  to  do  so.  There- 
fore all  such  enterprises  were  almost  wholly  depend- 
ent upon  credit  for  their  start  and  development,  and 
all  came  in  direct  competition  with  like  industries  and 
employments  that  were  already,  and  had  long  been, 
abundantly  supplying  the  people's  normal  demands, 
and  had  the  immediate  effect  of  lessening  the  employ- 
ment of  many,  by  dividing  between  two  or  more  the 
work  or  business  previously  done  by  one,  and  wholly 
displacing  others.  The  result  was  an  era  of  the  wild- 
est speculation  and  credit,  with  the  inflation  of  many 
a  bubble,  based  on  the  prosperity  and  gains  of  the 
past  four  years. 

The  producers  and  manufacturers  of  the  products 
which  enter  into  the  normal  consumption  of  the  peo- 
ple continually  multiplied  their  products  by  improve- 
ments in  their  machinery,  which  has  been  more  than 
doubled  in  its  productive  capacity  within  the  last 
eighteen  years,  and  now  requires  less  than  one  half 
the  amount  of  manual  labor  that  was  required  in 
1865  to  produce  an  equal  amount  of  subsistence  ;  in 
this  way  reducing  by  at  least  one  half  the  amount  of 
muscular  employment  at  that  time  required.  This 
great  development  in  mechanical  power  is  briefly 
shown  in  the  chapters  on  Machinery  in  Agriculture 
and  Machinery  in  Textiles  and  other  Manufactures. 


158  LAND  AND  LABOR. 

It  was  after  the  close  of  the  war  that  the  struggle 
for  work  again  commenced  between  the  idle  and  the 
employed.  To  obtain  employment  the  idle  would 
work  for  less  than  current  rates ;  then  would  follow 
strikes  with  their  losses  and  failures.  Then,  again, 
those  but  recently  thrown  out  of  employment  in  their 
turn  were  compelled  to  get  it  again  by  still  another 
cutting  under.  At  that  time,  also,  commenced  the 
organization  of  the  great  army  of  tramps.  A  grind- 
ing, cutting  competition  was  developed  which  had  the 
direct  effect  of  both  lowering  wages  and  lessening  em- 
ployment. Debts  were  increased;  consumption  was 
lessened ;  production  was  largely  developed ;  the 
grinding  competition  grew  heavier ;  idleness  in- 
creased ;  strikes  were  more  frequent ;  tramps  were 
constantly  enlisted.  All  these  operations  were  being 
accelerated  until  1873,  when  a  great  panic  was  cre- 
ated by  the  paralysis  of  that  year.  Kailroad  build- 
ing suddenly  contracted  to  small  proportions,  and 
municipal  work  stopped  in  great  part,  both  adding 
largely  to  the  numbers  then  unemployed.  Specula- 
tion and  credit  received  a  severe  check  ;  employment 
more  rapidly  diminished  ;  furnaces,  mills,  shops,  and 
all  the  hives  of  industry  either  closed  or  reduced  the 
number  of  their  operatives,  and  cut  down  their  wages 
—  using  less  of  muscular  force  and  more  of  mechani- 
cal —  but  still  crowding  the  markets  with  vast  stocks 
of  every  conceivable  product,  for  which  there  was  lit- 
tle or  no  sale. 

Still  wages  and  incomes  are  being  reduced  ;  still 
our  people  are  growing  poorer  and  poorer  ;  still  fail- 
ures and  disasters  are  multiplying ;  still  strikes  are 


EFFECTS  OF  THE  WAR   ON  LABOR.         159 

more  frequent  and  destructive ;  still  the  army  of 
tramps  is  increasing,  and  the  people  are  growing  more 
and  more  desperate.  And  it  must  be  so,  for  the  forces 
and  influences  which  made  this  condition  possible  arc 
as  active  as  ever.  At  this  time  the  amount  of  idle  or 
unemployed  manual  labor  can  not  be  safely  estimated 
at  less  than  double  what  it  was  immediately  after  the 
close  of  the  war,  with  wages  at  about  one  third,  when 
employment  is  obtained. 

Everywhere  the  evidences  are  increasing  that  our 
people  have  reached  the  point  where,  in  the  language 
of  Adam  Smith  :  — 

"  Many  are  not  able  to  find  employment  even  upon  these  hard 
terms,  but  must  either  starve,  or  be  driven  to  seek  a  subsistence 
by  begging,  or  by  the  perpetration  of  the  greatest  enormities.'' 
—  Wealth  of  Nations. 

And  he  emphatically  declares  that :  — 

"  The  scanty  maintenance  of  the  laboring  poor  is  the  natural 
symptom  that  things  are  at  a  stand,  and  their  starving  condi- 
tion that  they  [things  in  general]  are  going  fast  backwards."  — 
Ibid. 

These  great  military  and  industrial  operations  were 
events  that  did  not  transpire  in  a  corner,  neither  did 
the  succeeding  incidents.  They  were  of  too  great 
magnitude  to  be  hidden ;  but  were  of  the  most  public 
character  and  known  by  all  men.  Examine  the  facts 
and  judge  of  them  by  the  light  of  the  principles  above 
laid  down,  and  see  where  our  folly  and  madness  are 
dragging  us. 

In  August,  1878,  I  filed  with  the  Hewitt  Labor 
Committee  a  statement  of  the  unemployed  in  Massa- 


160  LAND  AND  LABOR. 

chusetts,  as  carefully  made  up  from  the  reports  of  the 
Labor  Bureau  of  that  State,  from  1865  to  1875,  which 
showed  that,  in  1875,  there  were  92,042  persons,  be- 
longing to  the  industrial  classes  in  that  State,  unac- 
counted for  and  without  employment.  This  statement 
did  not  include  any  portion  of  the  62,294  enrolled  men 
returned  to  the  State  from  the  army  in  the  latter  half 
of  1865  and  in  1866,  and  who  do  not  appear  in  the 
industrial  reports.  A  continuation  of  the  examina- 
tion from  1875  to  1878,  on  the  same  basis  and  au- 
thority, shows  the  nonemployment  at  that  time  of 
130,713  persons.  By  bringing  into  the  account  the 
"large  numbers  or  recruits  to  the  ranks  of  labor," 
from  the  56,117  dependents,  "living  at  home,"  "a 
class  not  furnishing  competitors  four  years  ago,"  but 
who  are  now  forced  into  those  ranks  (see  statement  of 
Col.  Carroll  D.  Wright,  Chief  of  Bureau  of  Statistics 
of  Labor,  of  August,  1878),  with  the  abnormal  increase 
of  those  ranks  from  the  62,294  soldiers  heretofore  re- 
ferred to,  will  swell  the  amount  to  more  than  200,000 
persons  at  that  time  unemployed  in  the  old  Common- 
wealth of  Massachusetts. 

An  idleness  of  200,000  in  Massachusetts  indicates 
an  amount  equal  to  that  of  5,500,000  persons  in  the 
United  States.  Do  not  misunderstand  this  statement. 
It  is  not  that  this  great  host  get  no  employment  what- 
ever ;  but  that  the  amount  of  time  lost  by  those  who 
are  only  partially  employed,  added  to  those  who  really 
get  no  employment,  equals  the  time  for  labor  of  more 
than  5,500,000  people. 

By  making  an  adjustment  of  the  difference  in  work- 
ing time  for  the  two  periods  of  1865  and  1875,  being 


EFFECTS  OF  THE  WAR   ON  LABOR.         161 

12  hours  a  day  for  the  first  period  and  10  hours  for 
the  last ;  and  also  making  the  required  allowance  for 
the  average  time  lost,  from  partial  employment,  by 
work  people  in  all  industries,  amounting  to  fully  one 
fourth,  as  shown  by  the  Massachusetts  statistical 
reports,  we  find  that  though  the  population  in  the 
ten  years  following  1865,  increased  to  the  amount  of 
384,881  persons,  the  amount  of  employed  muscular 
force  fell  off  to  the  extent  of  77,000.  That  whilst  the 
increase  in  the  production  of  cotton  fabrics  was  from 
175,875,934  yards  in  1865  to  874,780,874  yards  in 
1875,  or  nearly  five  fold,  the  actual  increase  (not  the 
reported)  in  the  muscular  force  employed  was  from 
24,151  persons  to  31,707,  or  about  one  fourth  ;  in 
woolen  goods  there  was  an  increase  from  46,008,141 
yards  in  1865  to  90,208,280  yards  in  1875,  and  an 
absolute  decrease  of  more  than  one  third  of  the  man- 
ual labor  employed  —  from  18,753  persons  to  11,550. 
Of  boots  and  shoes  there  were  made  in  1865, 31,870,581 
pairs  against  59,762,866  pairs  in  1875,  with  an  abso- 
lute decrease  in  the  muscular  force  employed  of  nearly 
one  half,  being  from  52,821  persons  in  1865  to  28,854 
in  1875.  That  is,  the  number  of  persons  set  down  as 
representing  the  muscular  force  employed  in  1875,  if 
working  now  twelve  hours  per  day,  as  was  the  usual 
time  in  1865,  in  the  above  three  industries,  with  con- 
stant employment,  would  produce  the  enormously 
increased  products  of  1875.  Since  1875  the  develop- 
ment in  increase  of  production  and  decrease  in  muscu- 
lar employment  has  in  no  respect  lessened.  The  in- 
dustries here  considered  are  the  leading  industries  in 
Massachusetts,  and  no  doubt  may  be  accepted  as  a 


162  LAND  AND  LABOR. 

basis  for  estimating  all.  It  will  be  observed  that 
whilst  in  these  three  industries  there  is  shown  an 
enormous  increase  in  production,  there  is  an  absolute 
decrease  in  manual  employment  equal  to  that  of 
25,000  persons.  A  most  startling  fact,  affording 
abundant  food  for  thought. 

Not  being  yet  able  to  obtain  the  corresponding  sta- 
tistics for  1880, 1  am  compelled  to  rely  upon  those  for 
1875.  They  sufficiently  mark  the  tendencies,  which 
have  in  no  respect  diminished  since  that  time ;  but, 
on  the  contrary,  have  notably  increased  in  many  direc- 
tions. The  Massachusetts  returns  are  here  used  for 
the  reason  that  they  are  more  complete  and  more  per- 
fectly show  the  advances  that  are  made  in  mechanical 
production,  than  do  those  from  any  other  quarter. 

In  all  their  essential  features  these  two  exhibits, 
that  from  the  military  operations  and  that  from  the 
Massachusetts  Labor  Bureau,  sustain  each  other,  the 
army  estimate  indicating  six  millions,  and  the  Massa- 
chusetts estimate  indicating  five  and  one  half  million 
persons  as  representing  the  idleness  in  our  country ; 
and  they  are  confirmed  by  the  incidents  that  have 
marked  the  progress  of  our  distress  ;  by  the  constant 
increase  in  idleness  of  our  people  ;  by  the  reduction 
in  wages  ;  by  the  vast  unsaleable  stocks  of  products 
of  every  nature  ;  by  the  multitudes  of  manufactur- 
ing, commercial,  and  financial  failures ;  by  the  idle 
and  half  occupied  mills,  factories,  and  workshops  of 
every  kind ;  by  the  unoccupied  stores  and  dwellings 
that  line  our  streets  ;  by  the  contraction  in  incomes  ; 
by  the  shrinkage  in  values  of  every  nature ;  by  the 
idleness  of  large  capitals  ;  by  the  reduction  in  inter- 


EFFECTS  OF  THE   WAR   ON  LABOR.         163 

est,  by  and  through  all  of  which  we  have  sunk  to  a 
point  where  values  and  business  are  twenty  per  cent, 
below  that  of  1860,  the  period  of  the  greatest  depres- 
sion and  distress  before  the  war.  And  still  our  course 
downward  does  not  pause  nor  diminish  ;  still  the  wa- 
ters of  our  deluge  of  idleness  are  rising  higher  and 
higher. 

The  concrete  wisdom  and  experience  of  all  ages 
have  crystallized  into  the  proverb,  that  "idleness  is 
the  root  of  all  evil."  Certain  it  is,  that  the  starting 
point  of  our  present  distress  was  the  enforced  idleness 
that  followed  the  close  of  the  war  ;  the  end  —  when 
and  where  shall  we  reach  it  ? 

The  facts  here  presented  have  been  obtainable  by 
any  who  desired  them,  and  require  no  high  coloring 
to  fully  exhibit  their  hideous  features.  Yet  these 
great  factors  are  studiously  hidden,  ignored,  misrepre- 
sented, and  falsified.  Our  national,  state,  and  muni- 
cipal politicians,  hounded  on  by  the  class  of  political 
economists  who  control  a  large  portion  of  the  press, 
are  in  full  cry  for  a  greater  reduction  in  salaries  and 
wages,  greater  reduction  in  working  force,  especially 
of  those  who  now  obtain  the  least  compensation,  in 
all  departments  of  government  employ,  and  among 
the  clerks,  the  workmen,  the  teachers  in  our  schools, 
our  laborers  —  in  every  place  where  another  worker 
can  be  forced  into  idleness,  or  another  dollar  can  be 
taken  from  his  scanty  income.  In  every  possible  way 
driving  our  people  into  deeper  depths  of  idleness  and 
poverty,  and  our  country  more  rapidly  to  perdition  — 
all  upon  the  plea  of  retrenchment  and  economy. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

THE    WAR     OF    THE    REBELLION     AND    THE     BUSINESS 
AND  WEALTH   OF   THE   COUNTRY. 


time  to  time,  within  the  past  few  years, 
when  some  of  our  prominent  politicians  have 
thought  it  necessary  to  offer  some  explanation  of  the 
causes  that  have  operated  to  produce  the  evil  times 
that  have  come  upon  us,  society  has  bee^  invited  to 
accept  some  most  remarkable  conclusions.  So  mis- 
leading have  been  these  conclusions,  so  wanting  in 
every  basis  of  fact  and  the  simplest  principles  of  logic, 
and  so  often  are  they  repeated,  that  it  seems  very 
proper  that  some  of  them  should  be  examined. 

A  late  Secretary  of  the  Interior,  in  a  speech  at  Cin- 
cinnati, in  September,  1878,  said  that  "  the  real  cause 
of  our  distress  .....  were  great  wars,  resulting  in 
an  immense  destruction  and  waste  of  wealth  ;  large 
industries  ministering  to  the  work  of  destruction  in- 
stead of  producing  additional  wealth,"  etc. 

An  able  writer  says  of  the  war  that  "  it  destroyed 
millions  of  property,  actually  wiped  out  of  existence 
this  vast  amount  of  wealth  which  it  had  taken  years 
to  produce.  It  obliged  us  to  run  in  debt." 

When  so  eminent  and  so  able  a  man  as  Carl  Schurz 
164 


THE  WAR  AND  WEALTH.  165 

can  give  currency  to  such  fallacies  we  need  not  be 
surprised  that  so  many  others  should  be  equally  de- 
luded. It  is  true  that  our  war  of  the  rebellion  was  a 
great  event  and  greatly  affected  our  industries.  It  is 
also  true  that  our  industrial  distress  is  a  great  disas- 
ter, and  that  it  comes  after  the  war  has  closed.  But 
it  is  not  true  that  the  distress  is  in  consequence  of  the 
war.  It  may  as  well  be  said  that  the  sun  is  the  cause 
of  darkness.  On  the  contrary,  and  the  truth  is,  that 
the  only  period  of  great  industrial  prosperity  —  the 
only  period  when  our  people  have  all  been  actively 
employed  and  in  receipt  of  compensations  that  per- 
mitted of  anything  like  comfort  for  all — that  they 
have  known  for  full  fifty  years,  was  during  and  the 
direct  result  of  the  war,  and  that  the  distress  came 
upon  us  because  the  industrial  conditions  of  the  war 
were  not  continued,  nor  other  provision  made  for  the 
employment  of  those  who  were  engaged  in  it.  It 
must  be  borne  in  mind  that  the  conditions  of  pros- 
perity that  came  upon  us  during  the  war  were  purely 
industrial  and  trade  ;  and  that  the  conditions  of  dis- 
tress that  followed  and  have  so  constantly  increased 
to  the  present  time,  are  also  trade  and  industrial, 
having  no  relation  whatever  to  the  carnage  and  de- 
struction of  war,  except  so  far  as  they  made  additional 
demands  upon  the  productive  industries. 
Adam  Smith  says :  — 

"  Manufactures  during  the  war  will  have  a  double  demand 
upon  them In  the  midst  of  the  most  destructive  for- 
eign war  the  greater  part  of  manufactures  may  flourish  greatly  ; 
and,  on  the  contrary,  they  may  decline  on  the  return  of  peace. 
The  different  state  of  many  different  branches  of  the  British 


166  LAND  AND  LABOR. 

manufactures  during  the  late  war,  and  for  sonic  time  after  the 
peace,  may  serve  us  an  illustration  of  what  has  just  been  said." 
Wealth  of  Nations. 

Never  were  the  manufacturers  and  working  classes 
of  England  more  prosperous  than  during  the  Napole- 
onic wars,  except  for  the  period  in  1810-11,  when 
British  commerce  was  shut  out  from  the  continent, 
and  also  when  excluded  from  the  United  States.  But 
the  close  of  the  war,  in  1815,  was  followed  by  a  long 
period  of  the  greatest  industrial  and  trade  distress. 
In  our  own  country,  previous  to  1837,  there  had  for 
years  been  developing  a  rapid  change  in  all  our  meth- 
ods of  production,  with  growth  hi  idleness  and  in- 
crease of  speculation,  credit,  and  business  failures, 
which  culminated  in  the  great  panic  of  that  year  and 
a  general  suspension  of  specie  payments.  After  that 
panic,  notwithstanding  the  many  financial  devices  and 
political  schemes,  the  idleness  and  distress  increased 
until  the  commencement  of  the  Mexican  war,  when 
the  roar  of  the  first  gun  fired  at  Palo  Alto  awoke  our 
people  to  activity  and  industry.  The  idlers,  in  tens 
of  thousands,  were  enrolled  in  the  armies  and  sent  to 
the  front,  and  other  tens  of  thousands  found  employ- 
ment in  supplying  and  sustaining  the  forces  at  home 
and  abroad.  The  wheels  of  industry  were  set  in  mo- 
tion throughout  the  country;  our  people  generally 
found  employment,  and  general  prosperity  attended 
every  business.  But  when  that  war  closed  the  men 
employed  in  the  armies,  and  the  persons  who  had 
been  i-ni^'d  in  supplying  war  material  and  suste- 
nance, found  their  occupations  gone,  and  they  were 
again,  as  before  the  war,  compelled  to  depend  upon 


THE  WAR  AND  WEALTH.  167 

the  normal  industries  for  employment  and  subsistence. 
Then  again  commenced  the  struggle  for  work,  with 
increasing  distress  and  another  panic  in  1857. 

During  the  industrial  transitions  here  referred  to 
our  monetary  system  had  undergone  no  change.  Our 
medium  of  exchange  was  gold  and  silYer,  with  State 
bank  issues  redeemable  in  United  States  coin. 

Let  us  briefly  review  some  of  the  most  prominent 
industrial  facts  of  the  late  war  of  the  rebellion,  com- 
mencing with  the  panic  of  1857,  which  was  similar  to 
that  of  1873,  only  less  in  degree,  but  from  similar 
causes.  For  years  our  producing  capacity  had  been 
marvellously  increasing  ;  our  productions  had  vastly 
multiplied,  and  at  the  same  time  we  were  importing, 
in  great  variety  and  enormous  quantities,  of  nearly 
everything  that  entered  into  our  consumption.  In 
these  two  ways  we  were  accumulating  and  piling  up 
immense  stocks  of  products  for  which  a  market  could 
not  be  found.  Already  great  numbers  had  been 
thrown  out  of  employment.  Our  markets  had  been 
forced  ;  prices  fell ;  our  credit  had  been  strained  to 
the  utmost ;  goods  could  not  be  sold ;  debts  could 
not  be  paid,  and  the  crash  of  1857  was  the  result,  as 
the  crash  of  1873  was  the  result  of  like  conditions. 

1860  found  us  suffering  a  great  industrial  and  com 
mercial  distress  ;  large  numbers  of  our  people  were 
idle  in  our  towns  and  cities,  begging  from  door  to 
door,  vainly  seeking  employment,  whilst  our  stores 
and  warehouses  were  gorged  with  products,  offered  at 
unprecedentedly  low  prices,  with  little  or  no  sale. 
The  people  were  almost  hopelessly  in  debt,  and  the 
government  nearly  bankrupt.  In  this  condition  the 


168  LAND  AND  LABOR. 

opening  of  the  war,  in  1861,  found  us  —  with  vast 
stocks  of  products,  foreign  and  domestic,  crushing  the 
life  out  of  us  because  they  were  not  sold  and  con- 
sumed ;  thus  preventing  the  employment  of  the  peo- 
ple in  reproduction,  and  compelling  them  to  idleness. 
,  Now  what  was  then  our  greatest  economic  need  ? 
Why,  the  consumption  of  these  goods,  that  there 
might  be  a  demand  for  additional  production,  that 
the  people  might  be  employed,  and  thus  be  enabled 
to  enter  the  market  as  purchasers  and  consumers. 

This  is  exactly  what  the  war  did.  All  the  idle  men 
in  our  country  were  quickly  brought  into  government 
service,  together  with  large  numbers  who  could  be 
well  spared  from  the  peaceful  pursuits.  This  gave 
our  whole  people  active  employment,  with  means  to 
become  active  consumers.  The  result  was  that  the 
large  stocks  on  hand  quickly  disappeared  before  the 
consumption  of  our  masses  ;  a  great  demand  was  cre- 
ated for  additional  production,  and  new  demands  for 
large  supplies  of  war  material.  The  success  and  wel- 
fare of  our  industries  depended  upon  the  quick  con- 
sumption or  destruction  (in  this  connection  the  words 
are  synonymous)  of  all  those  products,  and  they  were 
all  consumed  in  the  manner  indicated. 

This  general  and  active  consumption  created  an 
immense  trade  and  traffic  of  every  nature,  giving  ac- 
tivity and  prosperity  to  every  interest.  Instead  of 
causing  a  "waste  and  destruction  of  wealth"  the  war 
showered  wealth  on  all  by  consuming  and  destroying 
all  those  products  which  must  be  consumed  in  order 
to  obtain  pay  for  their  production.  So  long  as  tin -y 
were  unconsumcd  they  were  a  crushing  weight ;  tin  ir 


THE  WAR  AND  WEALTH.  1(J9 

consumption  gave  life  and  activity  to  every  industry 
in  the  work  of  reproduction.  Upon  this  point  Adam 
Smith  is  very  clear.  He  says  :  — 

"  Consumption  is  the  sole  end  and  purpose  of  all  production ; 
and  the  interest  of  the  producer  ought  to  be  attended  to  only  so 
far  as  it  may  be  necessary  for  promoting  that  of  the  consumer. 
The  maxim  is  so  perfectly  self  evident  that  it  would  be  absurd 

to  attempt  to  prove  it.     But  the   mercantile  system 

seems  to  consider  production  and  not  consumption,  as  the  ulti- 
mate end  and  object  of  all  industry  and  commerce."  —  Wealth 
of  Nations. 

He  further  says  :  — 

"  The  goods  of  the  merchant  yield  him  no  revenue  or  profit 
till  he  sells  them  for  money,  and  the  money  yields  him  as  little 
till  it  is  again  exchanged  for  goods.  His  capital  continually 
going  from  him  in  one  shape,  and  returning  to  him  in  another; 
and  it  is  only  by  means  of  such  circulation,  or  successive 
changes,  that  it  can  yield  him  any  profit."  —  Ibid. 

There  can  be  no  misunderstanding  Adam  Smith  on 
the  point  of  the  relations  of  production  and  consump- 
tion. The  "large  industries  that  ministered  to  the 
work  of  destruction  "  called  into  activity  the  dormant 
energies  of  our  people,  and  through  their  employment 
increased  the  volume  of  business  and  trade  to  a  degree 
that  enabled  all,  during  the  short  period  of  that  war, 
to  live  well  and  comfortably,  to  erect  monuments  of 
prosperity  that  will  last  for  ages,  and  come  out  of  the 
contest,  in  1865,  as  Secretary  McCulloch  truly  said, 
almost  wholly  out  of  debt.  Had  these  large  industries 
produced  only  that  "  additional  wealth  "  which  should 
remain  unconsumed,  they  would  simply  have  added  to 
the  great  burden  of  unmarketed,  unconsumed  products 


170  LAND  AND  LABOR. 

that  had  so  long  been  crushing  the  life  out  of  every  in- 
dustry, and  would  inevitably  have  intensified  the  busi- 
ness distress  that  existed  before  the  war.  But  the 
quick  consumption,  or  destruction,  of  their  products 
gave  life  and  activity  to  every  interest,  and  filled  the 
land  with  comfort  and  wealth. 

The  war  destroyed  not  one  dollar  of  property  that 
did  not  absolutely  depend  upon  its  destruction  to  pay 
for  its  production.  If  it  took  years  to  produce  that 
which  was  destroyed,  it  only  shows  how  long  the  pay- 
ment for  its  production  had  been  deferred.  Nothing 
was  wiped  out.  There  was  simply  a  conversion  from 
the  useless  to  the  useful. 

The  only  possible  reason  that  can  exist  for  the  pro- 
duction of  a  single  bale  of  cotton  cloth,  or  one  bushel 
of  wheat,  or  one  pair  of  shoes,  is  the  life  and  comfort 
which  are  obtained  by  and  through  their  use  and  con- 
sumption. Unused,  unconsumed,  they  fail  to  repay 
the  labor  and  cost  of  production,  or  in  any  manner  to 
contribute  to  the  sustenance  of  life,  the  comfort  of 
mankind,  or  the  wealth  of  society.  But  it  is  in  their 
use,  their  consumption,  that  all  the  required  condi- 
tions are  found.  And,  manifestly,  the  quicker  they 
are  brought  into  use  and  consumption,  the  sooner  will 
the  producer  and  trader  reap  their  reward  and  profit. 
It  is  consumption  that  makes  the  demand  for  re- 
production, that  fixes  the  value  of  products,  creates 
the  volume  of  trade,  and  pays  both  producer  and 
trader.  Production  and  consumption,  growth  and 
destruction,  are  the  law  of  progress  and  develop- 
ment ;  and  this  talk  of  wiping  wealth  out  of  exist- 
ence, except  by  and  through  idleness,  by  stagnation, 


THE  WAR  AND  WEALTH. 

by  the  loss  of  that  consumption  which  requires  con- 
stant reproduction,  is  the  sheerest  nonsense.  Pro- 
duction and  cumulation  create  stagnation  and  death, 
whilst  production  and  consumption  give  life  and 
development. 

The  war  gave  to  the  people  four  years  of  full  em- 
ployment, the  only  time  they  have  been  fully  employed 
during  the  last  fifty  years,  thus  enabling  them  to  pay 
their  debts,  and  conferring  prosperity  on  all. 

There  is  an  unerring  instinct  in  the  minds  of  the 
people  that  if  we  could  only  have  another  great  war, 
we  should  be  again  prosperous.  The  why  and  the 
how  they  do  not  consider.  It  is  only  the  result  that 
they  feel.  Neither  do  they  see  that  the  same  result 
may  be  obtained  without  war,  and  be  made  perma- 
nent. It  was  not  the  killing  of  our  fellow  men  that 
gave  or  added  to  our  prosperity. 

When  the  war  closed  three  and  one  half  millions 
of  men  and  women  in  the  North  alone,  who  had  been 
employed  in  the  armies,  and  in  their  support,  were 
thrown  out  of  employment  and  into  idleness.  It  was 
at  this  point,  when  this  great  deluge  of  idleness  came 
upon  us,  that  our  difficulties  began.  During  the  con- 
tinuance of  the  war  no  one  in  the  North  wanted  food, 
or  clothing,  or  shelter,  because  he  could  not  get  work, 
or  because  his  wages  would  not  pay  for  an  abundance 
of  either.  But  when  it  closed  at  least  three  millions 
of  working  people  and  their  dependents  were  at  once 
deprived  of  the  means  of  buying  in  the  markets  for 
consumption,  except  upon  credit,  or  by  competing  in 
and  compelling  a  division  of  employment  in  all  our 
normal  industries.  That  is,  stated  more  simply,  these 


172  LAND  AND  LABOR. 

three  millions  of  men  and  women,  except  a  small  por- 
tion, and  that  for  a  very  limited  time,  have  found  but 
partial  employment,  and  that  only  by  the  displace- 
ment of  others. 

In  no  sense  was  the  war  the  cause  of  our  present 
industrial  distress,  as  I  have  clearly  shown  by  the 
facts  and  operations  presented.  On  the  contrary,  it 
broke  the  tendency  to  idleness  and  distress  which  be- 
gan with  us  more  than  fifty  years  ago.  It  gave  em- 
ployment to  the  idle,  food  to  the  hungry,  clothing  to 
the  naked,  shelter  to  the  roofless,  and  prosperity  to 
all.  When  the  war  closed  we  simply  went  back  again 
to  the  idleness  and  distress  of  four  and  five  years  be- 
fore —  we  began  again  where  we  left  off  at  its  com- 
mencement— and  are  surely  reaping  the  legitimate 
results  of  our  wilful  refusal  to  profit  by  the  industrial 
lessons  of  the  war,  which  are  so  little  understood  and 
so  constantly  perverted  by  our  modern  economists. 

By  the  barbarism  of  war  we  are  clearly  taught  the 
lesson  that  whenever  the  masses  are  brought  into  ac- 
tive employment  —  whenever  they  are  placed  in  the 
condition  that  will  enable  them  to  make  their  con- 
sumption the  greatest  —  that  that  condition  is  imme- 
diately followed  by  the  greatest  prosperity  of  all  classes 
and  individuals,  and  especially  is  it  the  harvest  season 
of  the  capitalist  and  the  manufacturer.  But  that,  on 
the  other  hand,  whenever  the  masses  are  least  em- 
ployed, whenever  their  ability  to  obtain  for  consump- 
tion is  reduced  to  the  lowest  point,  there  closely  fol- 
lows the  greatest  distress  in  society,  from  which  the 
capitalists  and  manufacturers  are  by  no  means  ex- 
empted. The  destruction  of  human  life  is  in  no  way 


THE  WAR  AND  WEALTH.  173 

involved  in  the  industrial  problem  ;  that  is  the  bar- 
baric feature  that  may  well  be  eliminated  ;  it  is  not 
necessarily  connected  with  the  case.  The  whole  mat- 
ter rests  upon  the  two  points  of  the  actual  and  con- 
stant employment  of  the  masses  and  their  compensa- 
tion. The  time  of  their  daily  employment  is  not  a 
factor  in  the  case,  except  so  far  as  it  shall  determine 
whether  sufficient  is  or  is  not  produced  to  meet  the 
consumption  of  society  when  in  its  most  prosperous 
condition.  With  these  simple  factors,  it  does  not 
seem  difficult  to  discover  a  way  out  of  our  distress, 
and  an  economic  law  that  may  be  as  well  understood, 
and  as  easily  applied,  as  the  law  that  governs  in  any 
other  matter. 

If  the  operations  of  the  war  of  the  rebellion  shall 
have  the  effect  of  discovering  to  us  the  way  out  of  our 
present  distress,  and  an  economic  law  that  shall  lift 
society  out  of  its  ruts  of  slavery  to  fallacies  and  false 
economies,  to  renewed  and  permanent  prosperity  and 
development,  it  will  have  conferred  upon  the  world  a 
much  greater  blessing  than  can  be  found  in  lifting  the 
negro  alone  out  of  bondage,  and  make  one  almost 
tempted  to  apologize  for  the  barbarism  of  that  war. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

DID     RAILROAD    BUILDING    CAUSE    OUR    INDUSTRIAL 
DISTRESS  ? 

OUR  late  Secretary  of  the  Interior,  in  his  Cincin- 
nati speech,  hereinbefore  referred  to,  charged 
the  cause  of  our  industrial  distress  not  only  to  "  great 
wars  resulting  in  immense  destruction  of  wealth," 
but,  in  addition,  to  u  excessive  enterprise,  such  as  the 
building  of  railroads  where  they  were  not  needed  — 
running  from  point  nowhere  to  point  nowhere." 

The  editor  of  one  of  the  great  journals  published 
in  Chicago,  Horace  White,  Esq.,  in  testifying  before 
the  Hewitt  Labor  Committee,  in  August,  1878,  also 
charged  our  distress  to  excessive  railroad  building. 
When  such  men  lead  in  fallacies  a  multitude  is  sure 
to  follow.  Let  us  also  examine  this  charge  and  see 
what  there  is  in  it. 

In  what  way  did  the  employment  of  a  large  number 
of  men,  after  the  close  of  the  war,  in  building  railroads, 
cause  our  industrial  distress  ? 

Edward  Atkinson,  of  Boston,  says  that  250,000  men 
(see  Industrial  Redistribution,  in  International  Re- 
view), being  only  one  twelfth  of  those  discharged 
from  the  armies  of  the  North  alone,  and  the  indus- 

174 


EFFECT  OF  RAILROAD  BUILDING.         175 

tries  which  sustained  them,  were  so  employed.  Did 
the  keeping  of  that  number  of  men  out  of  idleness, 
giving  them  employment,  and  consequently  the  means 
of  buying  food  and  clothing,  and  other  necessaries  and 
comforts  of  life,  bring  misery  upon  our  whole  country, 
or  assist  in  doing  it  ?  Did  the  employment  of  one 
twelfth  of  those  discharged  from  the  armies,  and  their 
attendant  industries,  bring  poverty  and  distress,  not 
only  upon  the  other  eleven  twelfths,  but  upon  our 
whole  people  ? 

The  idea  is  a  fit  companion  for  that  which  charges 
the  cause  of  our  distress  upon  the  war.  It  has  not 
one  fact,  or  grain  of  common  sense,  to  sustain  it.  It 
is  a  gross  perversion  of  the  results  of  labor,  of  indus- 
try, of  enterprise. 

The  truth  is,  the  industry  that  was  developed  in 
railroad  construction  delayed  to  just  that  extent  the 
general  distress  that  is  now  upon  us%  The  capital 
that  was  thus  used  set  into  activity  the  wheels  of  in- 
dustry in  many  avocations,  and  acted  beneficially  on 
all.  The  great  trouble  was,  that  railroad  building 
was  almost  our  only  industrial  development,  and  the 
other  eleven  twelfths  who  had  been  in  government 
employ  were  compelled  to  divide  the  work  with  those 
already  employed,  or  remain  idle.  In  railroad  build- 
ing there  was  no  tc destruction  of  wealth,"  no  "large 
industries  ministering  to  the  work  of  destruction," 
but  large  industries  creating  that  which  ministered  to 
the  wants  of  man ;  the  making  of  something  useful 
where  nothing  before  existed. 

Not  a  dollar  of  capital  that  was  thus  expended  was 
lost,  or  wiped  out  of  existence.  It  went  to  draw  out 


176  LAND  AND  LABOR. 

of  the  earth  the  coal  and  the  ore  that  was  wrought 
into  iron.  It  huilt  furnaces,  mills,  shops,  and  dwell- 
ings ;  it  wrought  in  wood  and  metal ;  it  cultivated 
the  soil ;  it  furnished  food  and  clothing,  pleasure  and 
instruction  ;  it  built  highways,  opened  up  vast  extents 
of  country  to  settlement  and  development,  and  in  every 
way  ministered  to  the  wants  of  man,  and  then  returned, 
every  dollar  of  it,  not  one  cent  lost,  again  to  the  capi- 
talist. It  might  not  have  been  to  the  same  individ- 
ual ;  at  most  it  had  but  changed  hands ;  but  none 
of  it  remained  in  the  pockets  of  the  working  people  ; 
it  all  returned  to  the  capitalist. 

A  portion,  only,  of  the  interest  which  it  has  paid 
are  the  additional  roads  that  have  been  built,  the  fur- 
naces, mills,  dwellings,  stores,  and  everything  which 
remain  unconsumed.  The  capital  that  was  used  in 
the  building  of  these  roads  is  still  in  the  hands  of  the 
capitalist,  and  in  addition  all  these  evidences  of  in- 
creased material  wealth. 

Capital  in  activity  assisted  in  doing  this  ;  capital 
brought  into  activity  labor,  and,  being  divided  and 
distributed,  moved  and  excited  the  industries  of  the 
people,  and  gave  to  the  masses  the  means  to  enter 
into  the  market  and  make  use  and  consume  of  all  of 
the  products  of  industry.  In  this  way  capital  was  an 
agent  by  which  all  this  was  accomplished.  Nothing 
was  destroyed,  nothing  lost,  nothing  wiped  out  of  ex- 
istence, as  is  charged  on  the  war,  but  very  much  was 
added  to  the  means  which  should  contribute  to 
man's  welfare,  and  solely  by  the  application  of  man's 
industry. 

That  which  entered  into  and  was  consumed  in  the 


EFFECT   OF  RAILROAD  BUILDING.         177 

creation  of  these  railroads,  and  all  that  grew  out  of 
their  construction,  was  the  labor  of  man  —  and  so  it 
is  in  all  that  man  produces  and  consumes  ;  it  is  labor 
only  that  enters  into  the  construction,  crystallizes,  and 
there  remains,  an  addition  to  material  wealth,  whilst 
the  capital  always  returns  to  the  capitalist — and  the 
true  reason  why  our  great  industrial  distress  came 
upon  us  is  found  in  the  fact  that  only  one  twelfth  of 
the  late  army  employes  found  uncompetitive  employ- 
ment, while  the  other  eleven  twelfths  remained  in 
idleness,  or  by  constant  competition  with  those  al- 
ready employed  forced  a  continual  reduction  in  wages, 
uncertainty  in  and  partial  employment,  a  reduction  in 
the  means  of  living,  a  lessening  of  consumption,  with 
continual  decrease  in  the  demand  for  manual  labor  in 
production.  It  is  this  great  weight  of  idleness  that  is 
crushing  the  life  out  of  us. 

The  allegation  that  excessive  railroad  building  was 
a  cause  of  our  general  distress,  is  not  true.  It  was 
that  enterprise  that  delayed  and  made  more  gradual 
its  approach.  The  charge  that  we  built  "  railroads 
running  from  point  nowhere  to  point  nowhere,"  as 
well  as  the  whole  allegation  against  railroads,  had  its 
origin  in  the  Northern  Pacific,  where  the  great  finan- 
cial panic  of  1873  first  developed  ;  a  road  which  had 
then  only  585  miles  completed,  with  starting  points 
of  no  mean  importance,  and  running  through  and 
opening  up,  so  far  as  completed,  as  good  a  region  of 
country  as  can  be  found  in  the  valley  of  the  Missis- 
sippi. If  that  road  did  not  then  pay  dividends,  it 
was  simply  in  the  same  condition  as  some  of  the  old- 
est and  best  roads  in  our  country. 


178  LAND  AND  LABOR. 

During  the  four  years  of  the  war,  from  1862  to 
1865,  inclusive,  there  were  built  3,799  miles  of  road  ; 
during  the  next  four  years,  11,759  miles  ;  and  in  the 
next  four  years,  ending  with  1873,  23,467  miles.  Of 
this  35,226  miles  of  railroad  built  during  the  eight 
years  which  followed  the  war,  1,480  miles  were  in  the 
Eastern  States,  being  an  increase  of  nearly  40  per 
cent,  in  that  section  ;  in  the  Middle  States,  5,104 
miles,  and  nearly  60  per  cent,  increase  ;  in  the  South- 
ern States,  3,877  miles,  and  42 J  per  cent,  increase  ;  in 
the  Western  States,  22,833  miles,  an  increase  of  171 
per  cent.;  and  in  the  Pacific  States,  1,932  miles,  be- 
ing an  increase  of  nearly  ten  fold.  Which  and  how 
many  of  these  roads  were  not  needed  ?  It  must  be 
easy  to  point  them  out,  and  it  would  make  a  most 
interesting  and  instructive  exhibit. 

The  industry  that  built  this  vast  extent  of  railroad 
(that  would  reach  one  and  one  half  times  around  the 
world),  and  incidentally  the  great  number  of  furnaces, 
forges,  mills,  machinery,  and  structures  of  many  kinds, 
and  that  created  the  great  demands  for  food,  clothing, 
shelter,  and  other  necessaries  that  were  used  and  con- 
sumed in  the  sustenance  of  the  operatives,  were  not 
the  cause  of  our  great  industrial  distress,  because  they 
have  all  been  created  without  the  consumption  or  de- 
struction of  any  portion  of  the  material  wealth  or  cap- 
ital that  before  existed,  and  are  just  so  much  added 
to  the  means  for  providing  for  man's  necessities  and 
comforts. 

The  following  extract  from  an  editorial  in  the  Chi- 
cago Times,  of  October,  1882,  is  in  the  same  line  of 
iiillacious  statement  as  that  of  the  late  Secretary  of 


EFFECT  OF  RAILROAD  BUILDING.         179 

the  Interior.     In  commenting  upon  the  railroad  con- 
struction for  the  year,  the  writer  says  :  — 

"  At  the  same  rate  of  construction  for  the  current  quarter  the 
total  trackage  laid  for  the  year  would  be  about  10,700  miles. 
This  construction,  assuming  the  actual  cost  to  be  $25,000  per 
mile,  on  the  average  —  and  it  is  probably  not  far  from  that  — 
will  involve  the  conversion  of  $270,000,000  of  circulating  capi- 
tal into  fixed  capital." 

What  does  this  writer  mean  ?  "  Circulating  capi- 
tal "  is  generally  understood  to  be  money.  Does  he 
intend  to  be  understood  as  saying  that  $270,000,000, 
in  money,  have  changed  their  nature  and  been  ' 6  con- 
verted "  into  iron,  and  wood,  and  roadbeds  ;  and  con- 
sequently, that  there  is  just  so  much  "circulating 
capital "  lost  to  the  world  ?  Oh,  no,  he  does  not 
intend  to  say  that.  But  that  is  the  meaning  of  the 
language  used,  or  it  has  no  meaning.  It  is  that  kind 
of  "  con  version"  that  would  make  it  "fixed,"  i.e., 
immovable. 

The  statement  is  a  pure  fallacy,  without  a  grain  of 
sense  to  sustain  it.  The  truth  is,  that  not  one  dollar 
of  capital,  of  any  nature,  has  been  converted  into  rail- 
roads. All  such  capital  has  simply  been  temporarily 
used  in  the  construction  of  the  roads,  as  were  the 
wheelbarrows  of  the  laborers,  and  still  remain  as  "cir- 
culating capital "  for  further,  or  other  uses,  as  do  also 
the  old  wheelbarrows,  if  not  worn  out ;  a  liability  to 
which  "  circulating  capital "  is  not  incident. 

Labor  is  the  only  "  capital "  that  has  undergone  a 
"conversion,"  and  become  "fixed"  in  the  railroads 
that  have  been  built.  In  that  "  conversion  "  the  labor 


180  LAND  AND  LABOR. 

that  built  those  roads  has  gone  into  the  hands  of  the 
capitalist  as  "fixed  capital,"  upon  which  to  obtain 
additional  amounts  of  "circulating  capital"  by  the 
methods  too  well  known  to  require  explanation  here. 

The  two  statements  here  commented  upon  may  be 
accepted  as  fair  samples  of  the  fallacies  that  are  being 
continually  given  to  the  public  as  facts,  by  the  popu- 
lar economists  of  the  present  period. 


CHAPTER   X. 

MONEY   AND   THE  INDUSTRIAL   DISTRESS. 

"TTTHAT  is  money  and  what  are  its  uses  ?    Adam 
VV     Smith  says  :- 

"  Money  is  neither  a  material  to  work  upon,  nor  a  tool  to  work 
with;  and  though  the  wages  of  the  workman  are  commonly  paid 
tohirn  in  money,  his  real  revenue,  like  that  of  all  other  men,  con- 
sists, not  in  the  money,  but  in  the  money's  worth ;  not  in  the 
metal  pieces,  but  in  what  can  be  got  for  them." 

"  Money,  by  means  of  which  the  whole  revenue  of  society  is 
regularly  distributed  among  all  its  different  members,  makes  it- 
self no  part  of  that  revenue.  The  great  wheel  of  circulation  is 
altogether  different  from  the  goods  which  are  circulated  by 
means  of  it.  The  revenue  of  society  consists  altogether  in  those 
goods,  and  not  in  the  wheel  which  circulates  them." —  Wealth 
of  Nations. 

In  the  United  States  there  are  great  numbers  who 
charge  all  our  industrial  difficulties  upon  a  contrac- 
tion of  the  currency,  a  lessening  of  the  volume  of 
money  ;  and  other  great  numbers  who  have  insisted 
that  all  that  was  needed  to  restore  prosperity  to  all 
interests  was  the  resumption  of  specie  payments,  the 
making  of  our  money  to  harmonize  with  that  of  all 
other  commercial  nations.  Some  insisting  that  the 
greater  the  volume  of  money,  hard  or  soft,  the  greater 

181 


182  LAND  AND  LABOR. 

the  prosperity.  Others  have  been  equally  positive 
that  gold,  only,  must  be  the  standard  of  values,  and 
with  that  all  our  industrial  distress  would  disappear. 

If  these  two  classes  would  but  fairly  examine  the 
facts  of  our  present  distress,  and  look  abroad  and  see 
that  the  same  distress  is  prevailing  in  every  civilized 
country  of  the  globe,  with  the  conditions  under  which 
it  obtains,  they  would  be  compelled  to  admit  that 
money  has  nothing  to  do  with  it,  either  as  cause  or 
remedy. 

I  fully  recognize  the  use  and  value  of  money  as  a 
medium  of  exchange,  *a  representative  of  values  — 
nothing  more.  I  also  appreciate  the  necessity  of  hav- 
ing our  medium  of  exchange,  our  money,  of  equal  value 
and  character  with  that  of  other  commercial  nations, 
so  long  as  we  remain  a  member  of  that  family  ;  and, 
also,  the  great  value  of  an  unfluctuating,  uniform  cur- 
rency at  home.  In  trade,  in  commerce,  in  all  finan- 
cial transactions,  these  things  appear  to  me  indispen- 
sable for  security  and  success.  But  these  are  matters 
of  trade,  of  commerce,  and  finance  —  of  the  great 
wheel  of  circulation,  and  not  of  the  goods  which  are 
circulated  —  matters  which  I  do  not  here  propose  to 
discuss.  Our  industrial  production  and  consumption, 
and  the  trade  that  grows  out  of  these  two  things,  are 
very  different  matters.  These  last  things  have  to  do 
with  labor,  work,  employment — the  production  and 
use  of  that  which  is  needful  and  useful  to  man  for  his 
existence,  comfort,  and  development,  among  which  is 
" money"  itself,  and  w/rich  is  the  onlyfction. 

Heretofore  all  our  discussions  have  been  n limit 
"money,  money/'  and  "trade,  trade,"  never  once 


MONEY  AND  LABOR.  183 

recognizing  the  fact  that  all  trade  is  absolutely  de- 
pendent upon  the  use  and  consumption  of  the  pro- 
ducts of  industry,  and  that  the  millions  are  the  real 
consumers ;  that  their  consumption  is  the  source 
and  measure  of  all  trade.  Neither  do  they  appear  to 
appreciate  the  industrial  revolution  that  has  changed 
the  whole  social  and  political  condition  of  all  Chris- 
tendom, nor  the  relations  of  trade  to  the  conditions 
of  the  whole  people.  About  one  hundred  years  ago 
all  trade  was  substantially  confined  to,  and  dependent 
upon  not  more  than  a  tenth  part  of  the  people.  Adam 
Smith  then  said  foreign  trade  was  "  to  supply,  at  as 
easy  a  rate  as  possible,  the  great  men  with  the  con- 
veniences and  luxuries  which  they  wanted."  But 
now  it  takes  in  the  whole  of  the  masses  of  civiliza- 
tion, and  all  trade  is  dependent  upon  their  condition. 
Our  political  economists  have  dealt  solely  with  a  mat- 
ter which  lies  upon  the  surface  of  political  and  social 
organization  —  with  money  —  that  which  is  merely 
the  conventional  representative  of  real  values  —  the 
medium  of  exchange  in  place  of  barter.  They  have 
not  yet  seen,  and  will  not  understand,  that  the  real 
values  —  the  fruits  of  the  industries  of  mankind,  their 
production  and  consumption  —  are  what  demand  the 
most  careful  examination  and  thorough  understanding. 
We  have  evidence  that  money  is  not  the  cause  of 
our  present  distress  in  the  fact  that  Canada,  divided 
from  us  by  an  imaginary  line,  is  suffering  the  same 
distress,  with  no  fluctuations  in  her  currency.  In 
England  there  is  the  greatest  distress,  but  there  has 
been  no  change  in  her  financial  policy  for  more  than 
fifty  years;  but  her  industrial  methods  have  been 


184  LAND  AND  LABOR. 

completely  revolutionized.  Germany  has  recently 
greatly  strengthened  her  finances,  but  her  industries 
are  paralyzed.  France  suffers  in  her  manufactures, 
and  her  workmen  are  enduring  the  greatest  destitu- 
tion, but  there  have  been  no  great  financial  changes. 
Every  nation  and  people  on  earth  that  have  civilized 
industries  and  commerce  have  been  more  or  less  af- 
fected by  the  world's  industrial  revolution  ;  and  to 
the  exact  extent  to  which  each  country  has  been 
affected  by  this  revolution,  is  the  amount  of  distress 
in  that  coimtry.  Ours  is  the  only  nation  where  there 
have  been  changes  in  the  money  system,  and  financial 
follies ;  but  in  our  industries  we  suffer  in  common 
with  the  whole  world,  whether  our  money  is  hard  or 
soft,  gold  or  greenbacks. 

The  great  industrial  revolution  is  in  the  use  of  ma- 
chinery—  mechanical  forces  in  place  of  muscular  — 
in  general  production.  Money  will  not  and  can  not 
change  the  relations  of  machinery  to  muscle.  The 
increase  of  the  volume  of  our  money  will  not  change 
the  ratio  of  the  employment  of  these  two  forces ; 
neither  would  the  reduction  of  our  money  to  one  tenth 
the  present  volume.  Every  one,  whether  possessed 
of  much  or  little,  will  make  use  of  that  force  which  is 
most  effective  and  of  least  cost.  And  so  it  should  be. 

At  the  close  of  the  war,  in  1865,  as  is  alleged  by  the 
advocates  of  an  increased  volume  of  currency,  there 
was  in  circulation  nearly  $1,800,000,000  of  circulat- 
ing medium.  During  the  previous  four  years  all  the 
people  in  our  country  had  been  actively  employed  ; 
the  consumption  of  products  had  been  enormous  ; 
the  demand  for  reproduction  had  been  in  proportion, 


MONEY  AND  LABOR.  185 

and  duly  met.  The  volume  of  trade  had  been  so  great 
as  to  compel  the  utmost  activity.  All  prospered  ; 
capitalists,  agriculturists,  manufacturers,  merchants, 
traders,  carriers,  workingmen,  and  laborers,  all  had 
been  fully  employed ;  all  consumed  liberally,  paid 
promptly,  and  were  contented.  Money  would  then 
readily  command  an  interest  as  high  as  eight,  ten,  and 
twelve  per  cent.  But  the  close  of  the  war  quickly 
changed  the  course  of  all  these  operations.  From  the 
armies,  North  and  South,  together  with  "  the  indus- 
tries that  ministered  to  the  work  of  destruction,"  there 
were  thrown  out  of  employment  at  least  four  millions 
of  persons,  in  very  large  part  men,  with  two  or  more 
dependents,  whose  means  of  subsistence  were  thus  at 
once  terminated. 

Then  followed  the  demoralization  in  all  our  indus- 
tries, with  the  era  of  speculation  and  credit  already 
described.  Soon  the  market  of  consumption  by  our 
industrial  classes  was  utterly  lost  and  destroyed,  ex- 
cept as  it  was  sustained  from  the  diminished  and 
diminishing  resources  of  those  who  still  obtained  em- 
ployment, and  by  running  in  debt.  Production  did 
not  diminish,  but  rather  increased,  and  solely  for 
speculation,  creating  a  burden  that  soon  became  in- 
supportable—  building  a  monstrous  pyramid,  stand- 
ing on  its  apex,  of  idleness,  unsaleable  products,  and 
debts  that  could  not  be  paid,  until,  in  1873,  it  became 
too  ponderous  to  be  longer  held  up  by  money,  credit, 
or  other  means,  when  it  fell,  crushing  the  railroad  and 
municipal  work  in  the  common  ruin.  Ever  since  that 
time  there  has  been  a  wail,  "  This  is  the  result  of 
contraction,  the  work  of  Hugh  McCulloch  and  John 


186  LAND  AND  LAB  OH. 

Sherman.  If  we  only  could  have  had  more  money 
our  pyramid  would  not  have  fallen." 

A  friend  and  correspondent  in  Philadelphia,  one  of 
the  best  and  most  widely  known  of  its  industrial  sta- 
tisticians and  scientists,  and,  withal,  one  who  can  only 
see  in  the  contraction  of  the  currency  a  sufficient  cause 
for  our  distress,  writes  to  me,  saying :  —  "I  confess 
this  calamity  coming  in  time  of  peace,  upon  a  condi- 
tion of  unequaled  prosperity,  is  a  mystery  to  me." 

This  class  of  mourners  have  not  yet  learned  that 
first  fundamental  principle  in  political  economy  so 
clearly  laid  down  by  Adam  Smith,  that  "  the  annual 
labor  of  every  nation  is  the  fund  which  originally  sup- 
plies it  with  all  the  necessaries  and  conveniences  of 
life  which  it  annually  consumes."  If  this  be  true  then 
necessarily  the  trade  and  wealth  of  a  people  increases 
or  diminishes  as  that  fund  of  labor  is  employed  or  re- 
mains idle,  and  in  proportion  to  the  wages  or  interest 
which  it  draws  or  receives  in  its  use.  Neither  have 
they  yet  been  able  to  discover  that  it  was  at  the  very 
hight  of  our  greatest  prosperity,  when,  as  they  allege, 
we  had  a  volume  of  currency  amounting  to  nearly  two 
billions  of  dollars,  that  substantially  one  half  of  our 
great  fund  of  labor  —  that  for  a  number  of  years  had 
been  so  fully  employed,  drawing  good  interest  —  was 
at  once  thrown  out  of  use,  receiving  no  interest,  whilst 
the  half  that  continued  employed  was  largely  reduced 
in  value,  and  received  a  greatly  diminished  interest  in 
lower  wages. 

It  was  solely  to  pay  the  interest  on  this  great  labor 
fund  when  so  generally  employed,  twenty  years  ago, 
that  the  demand  for  a  greatly  increased  volume  of 


MONET  AND  LABOR.  187 

currency  was  created.  It  was  the  interest  that  was 
paid  upon  the  labor  fund  that  went  at  once  into  cir- 
culation and  created  the  great  body  of  trade  of  that 
period.  When  a  large  part  of  ^this  labor  fund  went 
out  of  use  there  was  a  sudden  stoppage  of  interest  on 
that  portion,  with  an  equal  lessening  in  the  amount 
of  trade,  and  reduction  in  the  amount  of  consumption 
and  demand  for  reproduction.  These  great  industrial 
events,  the  most  notable  ever  witnessed  by  any  coun- 
try, in  any  age,  our  present  political  economists  have 
not  been  able  to  see  nor  to  understand.  What  caused 
the  great  demand  for  reproduction  at  that  period ; 
how  the  great  consumption  was  sustained,  and  from 
whence  came  the  support  of  the  enormous  domestic 
trade,  were  matters  by  them  unknown  or  unconsid- 
ered ;  and  when  calamity  came  they  were  equally 
ignorant  of  the  cause.  They  have  yet  to  learn  the 
great  economic  fact  that  it  is  the  labor  fund  that  feeds 
and  sustains  all  other  funds  ;  that  without  that  fund 
there  can  be  no  other.  That  every  consumer  is  an 
economic  mint  that  converts  the  products  of  labor 
into  the  gold  that  enriches  society,  and  the  amount 
of  such  conversion,  or  coinage,  is  in  exact  ratio  w.ith 
the  number  and  capacity  of  the  mints  at  work.  The 
large  and  active  employment  of  the  labor  fund  of  the 
nation  at  that  time  gave  us  our  great  trade  and  in- 
dustrial prosperity.  It  was  that  that  made  labor  val- 
uable and  caused  it  to  command  good  interest,  as  does 
the  active  demand  and  use  of  the  money  fund  give  it 
value  and  increase  the  rate  of  its  interest. 

Neither  do  our  wise  economists  see  that  immedi- 
ately after  the  close  of  the  war  we  were  suddenly 


188  LAND  AND  LABOR. 

overwhelmed  with  a  deluge  of  idleness  which  has  been 
constantly  increasing  in  volume  ;  and  that  since  the 
bursting  of  that  deluge  the  aontraction  of  the  cur- 
rency has  not  at  any  time  equalled  the  falling  off  in 
the  home  trade  and  consumption,  until  now,  with,  as 
is  claimed,  a  largely  reduced  volume  of  money,  mil- 
lions of  it  are  vainly  seeking  investment  in  business 
enterprises  at  less  than  one  half  the  interest  it  com- 
manded eighteen  and  twenty  years  ago,  and  have  been 
invested  in  United  States  three  per  cent,  bonds  to  the 
amount  of  hundreds  of  millions  of  dollars.  It  was 
more  than  twelve  years  after  the  close  of  the  war  that 
specie  payments  were  resumed,  and  for  the  last  four 
years  gold  and  paper  money  have  stood  at  par.  But 
during  all  this  time  business  and  values  have  surely 
declined,  until  now  we  are  far  below  any  period  within 
the  last  twenty-five  years  ;  and  still  the  tendency  is 
downward. 

At  the  close  of  the  Mexican  war,  when  our  whole 
circulating  medium  was  redeemable  in  coin,  the  gen- 
eral condition  of  the  country  was  prosperous,  the  peo- 
ple being  mostly  employed.  But  when  the  armies  that 
had  been  engaged  in  that  war,  and  the  industries  that 
sustained  them,  had  been  thrown  back  upon  the  nor- 
mal employments  of  the  country,  there  was  a  growth 
of  idleness  and  business  distress,  like  that  since  the 
war  of  the  rebellion,  but  which  was  greatly  mitigated 
by  the  large  emigration  to  the  gold  fields  of  Califor- 
nia, in  1849,  and  the  following  years,  and  by  the  yield 
from  the  mines.  Yet,  notwithstanding  the  relief  that 
was  there  found,  the  industrial  distress  that  followed 
the  close  of  the  Mexican  war  resulted  in  the  panic  of 


MONEY  AND  LABOR.  189 

1857,  in  which  year  there  were  4,932  failures,  followed 
by  a  general  suspension  of  specie  payments.  Still  the 
idleness  and  distress  increased,  and  business  failures 
continued.  During  the  last  year  of  that  period  of 
great  idleness,  1861,  there  were  6,993  failures  ;  but 
the  next  year,  1862,  when  the  people  became  gener- 
ally employed,  the  number  of  failures  fell  to  1,652. 
As  the  employment  of  the  masses  increased  prosperity 
developed  ;  in  1863,  the  failures  were  495  ;  in  1864, 
520  ;  and  in  1865,  the  number  was  530.  In  this  last 
year  the  millions  who  had  been  employed  in  the  occu- 
pations of  the  war  were  thrown  back  upon  the  normal 
industries  for  employment,  with  the  resulting  idleness 
and  business  distress  shown  in  the  following  table  of 
failures,  being  for  twenty-six  years,  from  1857  to 
1882,  carefully  made  up  from  the  reports  of  the  Com- 
mercial Agency  of  Messrs.  K.  G.  Dun  &  Co.  of  New 
York.  These  statistics  are  collected  from  the  large 
corps  of  branch  agencies  connected  with  that  house, 
and  are  designed  and  believed  to  include  approxi- 
mately the  whole  number  of  business  concerns  in  the 
United  States,  engaged  in  trade  or  commerce,  except- 
ing a  considerable  portion  of  the  strictly  petty  traders. 
Banks,  bankers,  stock  operators,  insurance,  real  estate, 
the  professions,  as  the  medical  and  legal,  manufac- 
turers, builders,  contractors,  etc.,  are  not  included, 

It  will  be  noticed  that  since  1865  the  increase  in 
the  number  of  yearly  failures  was  nearly  constant  to 
1878,  like  the  increase  in  idleness,  whatever  may  have 
been  the  condition  of  the  currency,  whether  hard  or 
soft,  plenty  or  scarce  ;  but  since  that  year  there  have 
been  greater  fluctuations,  though  at  very  high  figures. 


190 


LAND  AND  LABOR. 


TABLE   OF   MERCANTILE   FAILURES   FOR   TWENTY-SIX   YEARS. 


Year. 

Number 
in  Business. 

Number  of 
Failures. 

Amount  of 
Liabilities. 

Percentage  of 
Failures. 

1857 

4,932 

$291,750,000 

1858 

4,225 

95,749,000 

1859 

3,913 

64,394,000 

I860 

3,676 

79,807,000 

1861 

6,993 

207,210,000 

1862 

1,652 

23,049,000 

1863 

495 

7,899,000 

1864 

520 

8,579,000 

1865 

530 

17,625,000 

1866 

160,303 

1,505 

53^783,000 

1  in  every  106 

1867 

205,000 

2,780 

96,666,000 

1  in  every    74 

1868 

276,000 

2,608 

63,694,000 

1  in  every  105 

1869 

355,000 

2,799 

75,054,000 

1  in  every  126 

1870 

427,292 

3,546 

88,242,000 

1  in  every  120 

1871 

476,018 

2,915 

85,252,000 

1  in  every  163 

1872 

532,236 

4,069 

121,056,000 

1  in  every  130 

1873 

562,054 

5,183 

228,499,000 

1  in  every  108 

1874 

608,904 

5,830 

155,239,000 

1  in  every  103 

1875 

644,389 

7,740 

201,000,000 

1  in  every    83 

1876 

680,072 

9,092 

191,117,000 

1  in  every    75 

1877 

652,006 

8,872 

190,669,936 

1  in  every    73 

1878 

674,741 

10,478 

234,383,132 

1  in  every    64 

1879 

6,658 

98,149,053 

1880 

4,735 

65,752,000 

1881 

5,582 

81,155,932 

1882 

822,256 

6,738 

101,547,564 

Messrs.  R.  G.  Dun  &  Co.,  in  their  circular  for  1882, 
make  the  following  comments  :  — 

"  The  marked  increase  in  the  number  of  failures  in  the  last 
two  years  can  have  only  one  interpretation,  viz. :  —  that  the 
risks  of  business,  and  the  losses  by  bad  debts,  are  increasing  in 
greater  proportion  than  the  growth  in  the  volume  of  trade,  or 
the  possibilities  of  profit." 


MONEY  AND  LABOR.  191 

Here  we  see  that  notwithstanding  the  constant 
efforts  that  are  being  made  to  guard  against  mercan- 
tile failures,  by  the  restriction  and  limitation  of  cred- 
its, and  by  the  establishment  of  a  vast  and  perfected 
system  of  espionage,  through  numerous  mercantile 
agencies,  that  enables  the  patrons  of  those  great 
establishments  to  learn  the  business  standing  of  every 
considerable  trader  in  the  country,  that  the  number 
of  failures  reported  each  year  unmistakably  proves 
that  a  chronic  state  of  commercial  demoralization  ex- 
ists that  is  most  disheartening.  No  better  evidence 
is  needed  to  conclusively  show  the  rottenness  of  the 
industrial  system  upon  which  all  our  trade  is  stand- 
ing. And  the  foregoing  table,  in  the  clearest  and 
most  forcible  manner,  also  tells  the  story  of  the  cause 
and  cure  of  the  world's  industrial  distress. 

Commencing  with  1857,  a  period  of  great  industrial 
idleness,  we  find  broad  columns  of  failures  and  liabili- 
ties, which  hold  and  increase  until  the  people  are 
brought  into  general  employment,  when  they  suddenly 
contract  to  less  than  one  tenth  of  their  former  volume. 
This  remarkable  shrinkage  in  failures  continues  until 
the  people  are  once  more  thrown  into  idleness,  when 
these  columns  again,  and  almost  at  once,  began  to  as- 
sume their  former  huge  proportions.  For  thirteen 
years  they  almost  constantly  grew  broader  and  heavi- 
er, as  the  idleness  and  destitution  increased,  till  they 
reached  10,478  failures,  and  liabilities  to  the  amount 
of  $234,383,132  ;  since  which  time  the  number  of 
failures  have  fluctuated  between  five  and  ten  thou- 
sand per  annum. 

Making  due  •  allowance  for  the  difficulty  of  obtain- 


192  LAND  AND  LABOR. 

ing  complete  financial  returns  from  the  States  in 
rebellion,  this  table  presents  a  graphic  diagram  —  a 
perfect  picture — of  the  effect  upon  general  business 
caused  by  the  employment  or  nonemployment  of  the 
masses.  So  would  a  similar  table  of  the  period  be- 
tween 1837  and  1857,  with  the  Mexican  war  in  the 
middle,  if  it  could  be  obtained,  though  less  grand  in 
its  proportions.  And  so  will  any  period  of  general 
employment  of  the  masses,  from  whatever  cause,  or  in 
whatever  country,  sandwiched  between  two  periods 
of  great  idleness.  There  is  an  economic  law  govern- 
ing these  matters  as  inflexible  as  the  law  that  governs 
the  siderial  system. 

This  table  also  shows  the  extraordinary  increase  of 
traders  —  middlemen,  between  the  producers  and  con- 
sumers —  immediately  after  the  close  of  the  war,  and 
which  has  continued  to  the  present  time,  caused  by 
large  numbers  being  forced  out  of  the  abnormal  in- 
dustries of  the  war  into  idleness,  and  the  necessity  of 
finding  something  to  do,  as  stated  in  the  chapter  on 
"  The  Economic  Effects  of  the  War  of  the  Rebellion." 
In  1866  the  number  of  traders  is  shown  to  be  160,303, 
being  1  to  every  222  inhabitants,  or  every  37  of  our 
voting  population.  In  1867  the  number  had  risen  to 
205,000,  being  1  to  every  177  inhabitants,  or  every  29 
voters.  In  1870  it  was  427,292,  being  1  trader  to 
every  89  inhabitants,  or  every  15  voters  ;  in  1878  they 
had  increased  to  674,741,  being  1  to  every  72  inhabi- 
tants, or  every  12  voters  ;  and  in  1882  the  number  of 
traders,  reckoning  each  trading  company  or  house  as 
one  trader,  had  reached  to  852,256,  being  1  to  every 
61  inhabitants,  or  1  to  every  10  voters. 


MONET  AND  LABOR.  103 

It  must  be  noted  that  in  this  statement  is  given 
only  the  number  of  business  houses  that  have  suffi- 
cient business  importance  to  appear  on  the  books  of 
Messrs.  B.  G.  Dun  &  Co.,  and  that,  on  an  average, 
each  business  concern  has  at  least  two  members,  some 
having  half  a  dozen  or  more.  But  we  will  say  two, 
which  give  1,704,512  persons,  or  one  in  every  six  of 
our  voting  population  engaged  in  notable  trade,  leav- 
ing out  of  the  account  the  hosts  of  petty  traders,  brok- 
ers, bankers,  stock  jobbers  or  gamblers,  speculators, 
those  in  real  estate  and  insurance,  as  well  as  account- 
ants, clerks,  salesmen,  etc.,  here  unconsidered,  that 
must  amount  to  nearly  or  quite  an  equal  number, 
making  fully  one  fourth  of  our  people  engaged  in  pur- 
suits that  are  in  no  sense  productive.  The  sarcasm  of 
Napoleon  that  England  was  but  a  "  nation  of  shop 
keepers  "  it  appears  may  be  far  better  applied  to  us, 
with  the  addition  of  "  and  gamblers."  But  when  the 
people  are  driven  out  of  the  productive  employments 
they  must  seek  other  business,  and  what  else  is  to  be 
found  ?  This  exhibit  clearly  shows  that  the  influences 
which  caused  the  abnormal  increase  of  traders  in  the 
first  five  years  following  the  war,  are  still  active. 

Thus  it  is  seen  that  while  the  inhabitants  have  in- 
creased not  more  than  35  per  cent.,  the  proportion  of 
traders  to  population  has  increased  about  370  per 
cent.,  or  more  than  ten  times  faster  than  the  increase 
of  population,  as  appears  by  the  foregoing  table  of 
failures.  But  the  increase  in  the  other  nonproductive 
pursuits  is  beyond  the  power  of  calculation.  This 
may  possibly  explain  why  it  is  that  at  this  time  the 
producer  gets  so  little  for  his  products,  whilst  the 


194  LAND  AND  LABOR. 

consumer  must  give  so  much.  Between  the  producers 
and  consumers  stand  these  great  armies  of  nonpro- 
ducers,  who  appear  to  be  remarkably  well  fed,  clothed, 
and  housed,  notwithstanding  their  numerous  failures. 

With  the  close  of  the  harvest  of  1879  a  speculative 
movement  in  breadstuffs  and  provisions  was  inaugu- 
rated, induced,  as  generally  believed,  by  the  foreign 
demand,  which,  however,  for  wheat,  was  not  greater 
than  that  of  1878,  whilst  the  production  was  largely 
in  excess  of  that  year.  This  speculation  advanced  the 
trade  price  of  some  of  those  staples  to  the  home  con- 
sumers from  thirty  to  one  hundred  per  cent.  The 
advance,  though  well  understood  to  be  purely  specula- 
tive, reacted  upon  other  articles  of  general  consump- 
tion, also  causing  a  rise  in  their  cost  to  society. 

In  1881  there  was  a  large  advance  in  all  food  pro- 
ducts, with  crops  very  considerably  short  of  those  of 
the  previous  year,  and  an  increase  of  failures  to  5,582  ; 
1882  brought  abundant  crops,  lower  prices  to  the  pro- 
ducer, but  largely  increased  cost  to  the  consumer,  and 
6,738  failures.  And  now,  as  I  write,  February,  1883, 
the  great  increase  of  failures  since  the  beginning  of  the 
year,  with  the  stagnation  of  general  trade,  the  rapid 
increase  of  idleness  from  the  shutting  down  of  many 
large  industrial  operations,  and  the  rapid  decline  in 
wages,  seem  to  indicate  that  this  year  will  be  marked 
for  its  exceptional  general  distress. 

It  is  certain  that  to  just  the  extent  of  the  increased 
cost  of  the  articles  of  general  consumption  to  the 
masses  is  the  advance  an  additional  deprivation  to 
the  productive  classes,  because  there  is  no  improve- 
ment in  their  general  condition  that  could  induce  a 


MONET  AND  LABOR.  195 

larger  consumption  even  under  the  late  lower  costs, 
and  must  reduce  it  under  the  present  higher  prices. 
There  is  neither  a  general  increase  in  the  number  of 
those  finding  employment  nor  in  the  wages  received. 
But  the  contrary  is  the  fact.  Therefore  the  increased 
cost  of  the  staples  of  subsistence  becomes  a  serious 
additional  burden  upon  the  mass  of  our  people.  The 
small  farmer  and  workingman,  whose  labor  went  into 
their  production,  derive  no  benefit  from  the  increase 
in  the  trade  price.  Whatever  benefits  have  resulted 
have  remained  almost  solely  with  the  foreign  trader 
and  speculator.  Yet  even  as  I  write  the  press,  from 
one  end  of  the  country  to  the  other,  call  the  present 
condition  a  return  of  business  prosperity. 

Concurrent  with  the  commencement  of  the  fever 
of  speculation,  in  1879,  there  was  developed  an  un- 
paralleled movement  in  railroad  building,  mainly  in 
the  great  West,  and  covering  quite  the  entire  portion 
of  the  national  domain  that  remains  open  to  either 
agricultural  or  mining  use.  Indeed,  there  can  be  no 
doubt  that  the  movement  largely  finds  its  support  in 
the  rivalry  between  great  capitalists  to  at  once  gain 
possession  of  all  the  lands  that  remain  under  govern- 
ment title. 

To  a  thoughtful  observer  it  must  be  apparent  that 
these  speculative  movements,  as  well  as  all  others  of  a 
similar  character,  were  created  and  sustained  purely 
in  the  interest  of  classes  that  are  opposed  to  the  gen- 
eral welfare  of  the  country  —  that  live  upon  the  mis- 
eries of  society  and  fatten  upon  its  distresses.  How 
unsafe  are  the  teachings  of  those  classes,  and  how 
their  interests  conflict  with  the  interests  of  society, 


196  LAND  AND  LABOR. 

Adam  Smith  did  not  fail  to  point  out  with  the  great- 
est clearness. 

In  the  very  nature  of  things  the  speculation  in  and 
exportation  of  food  products  can  not  always  continue. 
The  English  and  European  seasons  will  not  always 
remain  bad  ;  neither  can  England  nor  any  other  coun- 
try long  exist  and  depend  upon  foreign  importations 
for  any  considerable  portion  of  the  food  that  feeds  her 
people.  She  must  raise  her  own  bread  and  meat.  The 
very  first  return  of  good  seasons  and  harvests  with  that 
people  who  now  receive  so  largely  from  us,  will  throw 
back  upon  ourselves  the  enormous  amounts  that  we 
now  export,  and  cause  such  a  demoralization  in  our 
trade  and  industries  as  will  shake  us  as  we  have  not 
yet  been  shaken.  Even  if  this  does  not  happen  dur- 
ing the  coming  year  it  must  come  soon.  But  whether 
it  gomes  soon  or  late  the  present  fever  of  speculation 
can  not  long  continue,  and  is  sure  to  be  succeeded  by 
inevitable  prostration,  as  did  the  speculative  mania 
that  followed  the  close  of  the  war  of  the  rebellion. 

When  prosperity  returns  it  will  come  upon  us  as 
before :  by  springing  from  the  root,  not  from  the  top 
-  the  growth  will  be  upwards,  not  downwards.  As  in 
the  years  that  followed  1861,  it  will  have  its  founda- 
tion in  the  improved  condition  of  the  masses,  not  in 
food  speculations  and  stock  gambling.  The  tens  of 
millions  of  gold  that  have  been  received  from  Eng- 
land, and  grasped  and  hoarded  by  our  great  capital- 
ists, will  go  no  farther  in  relieving  the  distress  of  the 
industrial  classes  than  the  hundreds  of  millions  that 
have  already  been  invested  in  United  States  bonds. 

It  is  certain  that  money,  whether  hard  or  soft,  much 


MONEY  AND  LABOR.  J97 

or  little,  did  not  create  and  will  not  relieve  our  distress. 
There  is  a  power  greater,  mightier  than  it,  that  has 
wrought  these  great  changes.  No  amount  of  fallacy 
or  sophistry,  of  dodging  or  ignoring,  of  arrogance  or 
stupidity,  of  falsehood  or  calumny,  can  hide  the  fact 
that  all  our  distress  is  chargeable  to  the  crime  which, 
by  any  means,  deprives  man  of  the  opportunity  to 
"  eat  bread  in  the  sweat  of  his  face,"  and  forces  him 
into  idleness.  This  is  the  one  great  factor,  either 
always  kept  out  of  view,  or  belittled,  or  belied,  but 
which  certainly  underlies  the  whole  matter.  If  idle- 
ness be  the  root  of  all  evil,  then  must  employment  be 
the  parent  of  all  good. 


CHAPTER  XL 

FOREIGN  TRADE   IS  NO  REMEDY  FOR  OUR  INDUSTRIAL 
DISTRESS. 

[A  portion  of  the  matter  forming  this  chapter  I  prepared  for  the  Atlantic 
Monthly  of  August,  1879,  where  it  may  be  found  under  the  title  of  "  Foreign 
Trade  no  Cure  for  Hard  Times."] 

VERY  large  number  of  well  meaning  people  be- 
Heve  that  the  only  remedy  for  our  industrial 
distress  is  to  be  found  in  foreign  trade  —  by  selling 
our  manufactures  and  products  of  every  nature  in  for- 
eign markets  —  by  manufacturing  and  producing  for 
all  the  world  —  by  making  our  country  the  workshop 
of  the  world,  and  our  people  the  world's  providers. 

Suppose  it  were  to  our  interest,  and  the  interest  of 
the  world,  that  it  should  be  so,  how  can  it  be  done  ? 
The  answer  quickly  comes,  By  manufacturing  and 
producing  cheaper  and  better  than  any  other  people 
—  or,  to  sell  a  better  article,  at  a  less  price,  than  any 
competitor.  By  the  power  of  cheapness  to  drive  all 
other  producers  and  manufacturers  out  of  the  market 
—  to  undersell  all  others. 

Let  us  see  what  this  means,  and  what  we  have 
to  compete  with,  for  it  is  by  competition  only  that 
foreign  markets  can  be  obtained.  I  take  up  the 
"  Statesman,"  of  India,  to  learn  the  working  time  in 
thoir  cotton  mills.  From  that  paper  I  quote  :  - 
198 


FOREIGN  TRADE  NO  REMEDY.  199 

"  The  Bengal  cotton  mills  work  fourteen  hours  per  day,  and 
the  Bowriah  cotton  mills  twenty  hours  per  day,  as  well  as  Sun- 
days ;  and  some  of  the  Calcutta  mills  are  lit  up  with  gas  and 
work  day  and  night,  as  well  as  Sundays.  Undoubtedly  the 
machinery,  working  day  and  night,  can  not  but  last  for  a  very 
few  years ;  consequently  the  poor  shareholders  will  have  soon 
to  renew  the  machinery." 

The  amount  of  wages  paid  is  not  stated  ;  but  it  is 
well  known  that  wages  in  India,  like  wages  in  China, 
are  very  low  —  in  the  neighborhood  often  cents  a  day. 

To  obtain  a  foreign  market,  in  textiles,  we  must, 
therefore,  compete  with  fourteen,  twenty,  and  twenty- 
four  hours  a  day  of  work,  for  seven  days  in  the  week, 
with  wages  at  ten  cents  a  day,  or  sixty  or  seventy 
cents  a  week.  There  is  a  lamentation  in  this  extract 
over  the  wear  and  tear  of  machinery  and  "  the  poor 
shareholders."  But  the  wear  and  tear  of  poor  workers 
do  not  enter  into  the  account.  Laborers  are  of  no 
more  value  or  cost  to  the  manufacturer  in  India  than 
in  the  United  States.  It  costs  no  more  to  replenish 
humanity  there  than  here.  When  one  working  man 
or  woman  is  worn  out  and  disappears,  no  doubt  a 
dozen  or  more  are  found  competing  for  the  vacant 
place,  in  India,  as  in  the  United  States  and  all  the 
countries  of  Europe. 

This  picture  of  manufactures  in  India  will  answer 
for  China,  for  South  America,  Central  America,  and 
Mexico.  They  are  all  struggling  for  the  same  posi- 
tion, and  they  all  have  England,  Germany,  France, 
and  the  United  States  to  help  them  onward,  by  sup- 
plying them  with  the  required  machinery,  and  experts 
to  teach  its  use.  A  Hindoo  boy  or  girl  can  run  a 


200  LAND  AND  LABOR. 

machine  as  well  as  the  Anglo  Saxon ;  and  so,  also,  can 
a  native  of  China  and  of  South  America. 

England,  until  recently,  controlled  the  market  of 
India  —  that  is,  did  its  manufacturing,  etc.  It  is 
trying  to  do  the  same  thing  for  the  other  countries 
named,  and  no  doubt  is  meeting  with  equal  success. 
But  India  has  recently  learned  something.  By  the 
use  of  machinery  she  now  produces  and  manufactures 
for  herself.  She  has  driven  and  is  driving  British 
manufactures  out  of  her  markets,  and  is  already  seek- 
ing a  foreign  market  for  her  own  machine  products. 
So  it  is  with  us,  who,  but  a  generation  ago,  were 
England's  greatest  and  best  customer.  So  it  will  be 
with  every  other  country.  It  is  true  that  England 
has  still  a  large  foreign  market,  which  we  are  trying 
to  get  by  underselling  her.  England,  to  keep  the 
market  she  has,  is  compelled  to  get  her  work  done  so 
cheap  that  her  people  are  starving.  We  are  doing 
the  same  thing.  The  reports  we  daily  receive  of  the 
distress  in  that  country  are  simply  terrible.  With  us 
it  is  but  little  better.  Great  efforts  are  made  by  our 
political  economists,  among  them  a  late  Secretary  of 
State,  to  show  that  our  work  people  are  living  in 
abundance  and  comfort.  In  evidence  of  this  claim 
our  foreign  consuls  and  agents,  with  others,  find  that 
whilst  the  European  laborer  is  starving,  in  England, 
for  example,  on  from  three  to  eight  shillings  a  day, 
the  American  workingman  will  get  from  sixpence  to 
two  shillings  more  per  diem,  and  has  every  reason  to 
be  contented  with  his  greatly  superior  condition. 
That  the  wages  received  by  the  American  working- 
man,  when  at  work,  will  not  provide  the  necessaries 


FOREIGN  TRADE  NO  REMEDY.  201 

of  life,  is  a  matter  of  no  consequence  ;  and  the  great 
amount  of  idleness  to  which  he  is  subject,  when  no 
wages  are  received,  are  of  still  less  importance.  He 
must  be  contented  with  the  asserted  fact  that  his 
wages  are  greater  than  is  paid  for  the  same  work  in 
Europe.  The  American  workingman,  in  his  misery, 
must  find  all  the  comforts  he  requires  in  the  fact  that 
other  workmen  are  in  still  worse  condition.  This  is 
the  full  extent  to  which  the  remedies  of  our  statesmen 
and  political  economists  have  yet  reached.  But  we 
are  doing  all  we  can  to  make  our  people  still  poorer, 
to  work  for  still  lower  wages,  that  we  may  undersell, 
not  only  England,  but  India  ;  for  to  succeed  we  must 
undersell  the  cheapest. 

No  matter  what  it  costs  us,  that  is  the  price,  and 
the  only  price,  at  which  we  can  obtain  foreign  markets 
for  our  manufactures  and  products,  and  we  must  pay 
it.  On  these  conditions,  and  no  other,  we  have  been 
able  to  increase  our  domestic  exports  for  foreign  con- 
sumption from  $136,940,248,  for  the  year  ending  June 
30,  1865,  to  $680,709,258,  for  the  year  ending  June 
30,  1878,  and  to  $749,911,309  for  the  year  ending 
December  30,  1882,  of  which  less  than  one  hundred 
millions  were  of  our  manufactures  for  either  year; 
being  an  increase,  in  seventeen  years,  of  $612,971,061 ; 
but  we  will  call  it,  in  round  numbers,  six  hundred 
millions  of  dollars,  of  both  raw  and  manufactured 
products,  or  one  hundred  millions  of  dollars  of  manu- 
factured products  alone.  The  value  of  the  exports  of 
manufactures  of  cotton  is  given  as  $11,438,660  for 
1878,  and  $13,180,044,  for  1882  ;  of  wool  and  its  man- 
ufactures, $542,342  for  1878,  and  $391,674  for  1882  ; 


202  LAND  AND  LABOR. 

iron  and  steel  and  their  manufactures,  $13,968,275  for 
1878,  and  $19,029,759  for  1882  ;  and  boots  and  shoes, 
$468,436  for  1878,  and  $527,914  for  1882  ;  total, 
$26,417,713  for  1878,  and  $33,129,391  for  1882.  It 
is  in  these  four  products  that  the  great  effort  has  been 
made  to  force  the  cost  of  production  to  the  lowest  pos- 
sible point,  by  paying  the  smallest  wages,  that  we  may 
successfully  compete  in  foreign  markets.  Most  cer- 
tainly the  increase  in  the  four  years  from  1878  to 
1882  is  not  very  encouraging. 

Thus,  after  seventeen  years  of  national  effort  —  of 
legislation,  of  subsidizing,  of  treaties  and  conventions 
of  every  nature,  and  superhuman  efforts  at  cheap  pro- 
duction, by  the  reduction  of  wages  and  salaries,  the 
substitution  of  machinery  for  muscle,  and  the  throw- 
ing of  millions  into  idleness  —  we  have  got  so  far  be- 
low the  cost  of  manufacturing  and  producing  in  India, 
in  Brazil,  in  England,  or  any  other  country,  as  to  in- 
crease or  make  a  foreign  market  for  our  manufactures 
to  the  amount  of,  say,  one  hundred  million  dollars, 
and  of  our  general  products  of,  say  six  hundred  mil- 
lions of  dollars  per  annum. 

Has  it  paid  ?     Does  it  now  pay  ? 

Let  us  see  the  cost'  We  have  all  the  factors  neces- 
sary for  thorough  examination  and  illustration.  We 
have  at  this  time,  in  our  whole  country,  at  least  four- 
teen millions  belonging  to  the  great  industrial  class  — 
that  is,  to  those  dependent  on  their  salaries  or  wages 
for  subsistence.  Of  this  class  only  will  we  speak,  ex- 
cluding those  persons  who,  as  officials  in  civil  or  gov- 
ernmental employ,  or  as  superintendents  or  foremen, 
or  those  in  professional  or  clerical  positions,  who 


FOREIGN  TRADE  NO  REMEDY.  203 

hold  exceptional  employments  and  receive  excep- 
tional salaries. 

Seventeen  years  ago,  at  the  time  of  the  close  of  the 
Avar  of  the  rebellion,  there  were  of  this  class,  in  the 
North  alone,  about  seven  millions,  in  large  part  males. 

The  wages  paid  to  the  industrial  classes  are  very 
nearly  the  exact  measure  of  the  amount  contributed 
by  those  classes  to  the  trade  of  society.  Almost  cer- 
tainly is  that  the  case  where  the  amount  of  wages  falls 
within  one  thousand  dollars  a  year.  Even  where  small 
savings  are  made,  and  stored  in  savings  institutions, 
it  is  soon  withdrawn  and  goes  into  the  volume  of  trade 
in  some  shape. 

Upon  the  basis  here  laid  down  we  will  see  how  our 
foreign  trade  pays  as  compared  with  our  home  traffic. 

Before  the  close  of  the  war,  and  for  sometime  after- 
wards, all  who  found  employment  received  as  compen- 
sation, upon  an  average,  at  least  two  and  one  half 
dollars,  geld  value,  a  day,  or  seven  hundred  and  fifty 
dollars  for  a  year  of  three  hundred  days.  At  this  rate 
the  seven  millions  belonging  to  the  great  industrial 
class,  in  the  North,  contributed,  in  the  first  half  of 
1865,  at  the  rate  of  five  and  one  quarter  billions  of 
dollars  per  annum  to  the  home  trade  of  consumption. 

At  the  same  rate,  with  our  present  fourteen  millions 
in  our  whole  country  belonging  to  the  great  industrial 
class  and  who  should  be  in  active  employment,  our 
home  traffic  would  swell  to  the  enormous  amount  of 
ten  and  one  half  billions  of  dollars  per  annum.  But 
it  is  only  about  one  quarter  that  amount. 

Among  these  fourteen  millions  there  is  an  amount 
of  idleness  that  equals  the  full  time  of  six  million  per- 


204  LAND  AND  LABOR. 

sons,  leaving  full  employment  for  but  about  eight  mil- 
lions. At  this  time  the  average  wages  paid  to  workers, 
when  employed,  is  less  than  one  dollar  a  day  ;  but  we 
will  estimate  at  one  dollar,  or  three  hundred  dollars  a 
year,  which,  for  eight  million  persons,  give  a  trade  of 
two  billions  four  hundred  million  dollars  per  annum. 

This  must  be  the  measure  of  that  part  of  our  home 
traffic  now  derived  from  the  industrial  classes,  because 
it  is  not  possible  that  they  should  contribute  anything 
more  than  the  wages  they  receive. 

Here  is  shown  an  annual  loss  to  the  trade  of  home 
consumption,  by  the  industrial  classes,  caused  by  their 
increasing  idleness  and  constant  reduction  in  wages, 
within  the  last  seventeen  years,  that  amounts  to  the 
enormous  sum  of  over  eight  billions  of  dollars  per  an- 
num, and  an  absolute  decrease  of  two  billions  eight 
hundred  and  fifty  millions  of  dollars  per  annum  dur- 
ing the  same  period,  though  the  number  of  consumers 
during  that  time,  and  in  those  classes  have  fully 
doubled.  That  is,  that  lae  seven  millions  of  fully 
employed,  well  paid  persons,  seventeen  years  ago,  cre- 
ated more  than  double  the  amount  of  business  that  is 
now  created  by  fourteen  millions  of  persons  of  the 
same  character  and  capacity,  when  only  partially  em- 
ployed and  but  poorly  paid. 

But  if  it  be  insisted  that  the  whole  of  the  great  in- 
dustrial class  must  enter  into  the  computation,  and 
be  considered  as  contributing  something  to  trade,  as 
nearly  all  do  some  work  at  some  time,  and  consume 
something,  then  sixty  cents  a  day  is  the  utmost  that 
can  be  allowed  for  the  average  earnings  of  all,  which 
results  in  substantially  the  same  showing. 


FOREIGN  TRADE  NO  REMEDY.-  205 

The  amount  of  present  wages  is  based  on  the  Mas- 
sachusetts Labor  reports. 

This  great  contrast  between  two  billions  four  hun- 
dred millions,  and  ten  billions  five  hundred  millions, 
is  just  the  difference,  in  dollars,  between  the  home  con- 
sumption of  fourteen  millions  of  partially  employed, 
poorly  paid  persons,  and  their  dependents,  and  that  of 
the  same  persons  when  all  are  employed  and  well  paid, 
leaving  altogether  out  of  the  account  the  amount  of 
destitution  and  misery  in  the  one  case,  and  the  com- 
fort, happiness,  and  improvement  in  the  other.  It  is 
the  home  trade  contrast  shown  by  more  than  fifty 
millions  of  the  most  generally  educated  and  advanced 
people  on  earth,  when  the  industrial  classes  are  all 
employed,  at  good  wages,  and  the  time  when  nearly 
half  are  practically  idle,  and  those  who  do  work  are 
ground  to  the  lowest  cent. 

The  contrast  in  the  quantity  of  products  consumed 
at  home  by  each  individual  now  and  sixteen  and 
eighteen  years  ago,  may  be  determined  by  learning 
the  number  of  furnaces,  forges,  factories,  mills,  and 
workshops  of  every  nature  now  standing  idle,  or  but 
partially  employed  ;  the  reduction  of  the  number  of 
employes  in  all  establishments  as  compared  with  the 
production ;  the  immense  stocks  of  products  now  on 
hand  for  which  there  is  little  or  no  demand  ;  the  large 
exportation  of  home  products,  and  the  difference  in 
the  number  of  consumers  in  the  two  periods.  The 
factors  that  enter  into  this  contrast  are  too  many  and 
too  complicated  to  be  satisfactorily  considered  in  a 
limited  space ;  I  therefore  simply  call  attention  to 
the  point. 


206  LAND  AND  LABOR. 

A  home  trade  of  consumption,  by  the  industrial 
masses  of  our  people,  amounting  to  ten  and  one  half 
billions  of  dollars,  appears  to  be  an  object  worth  striv- 
ing for,  and  cultivating,  and  sustaining  by  all  the 
power  of  our  government  and  people.  Not  so,  think 
and  teach  many  of  our  would  be  statesmen  and  polit- 
ical economists. 

At  this  time  the  idleness  in  our  country  causes  a 
loss  in  the  home  trade  of  consumption  of  over  eight 
billions  of  dollars  per  annum.  "  But  what  of  that," 
reply  our  modem  statesmen  and  foreign  traders ; 
"  have  we  not  gained  in  our  foreign  export  trade  to 
the  amount  of  six  hundred  millions  of  dollars  ?  Have 
we  not  the  foreign  trade  balance  in  our  favor  ?  What 
do  eight  billions  lost  to  home  traffic,  and  the  comfort 
and  wealth  of  the  people  signify,  when  we  can  get  an 
increase  in  our  foreign  trade  of  six  hundred  millions 
of  dollars  in  seventeen  years,  with  a  favorable  foreign 
trade  balance  ?  "  The  foreign  trade  balance  was  in 
our  favor  in  1878,  but  in  1882  it  was  against  us.  It 
is  subject  to  constant  fluctuations  ;  but  in  neither 
case  does  it  lessen  the  national  evils  nor  increase  the 
benefits  of  foreign  trade. 

But  if  we  add  this  six  hundred  millions  of  foreign 
trade  we  have  gained,  to  the  two  arid  one  half  billions 
we  have  saved,  we  shall  find  that  it  gives  a  total  trade 
at  the  present  time,  home  and  foreign,  of  three  billions 
of  dollars,  against  five  and  a  quarter  billions  in  1865, 
and  ten  and  one  half  billions  we  should  now  have,  if 
all  our  people  were  employed. 

Does  it  pay  ? 

Every  dollar  of  foreign  trade  that  we  have  gained,  if 


FOREIGN  TRADE  NO  REMEDY.  207 

because  of  the  cheapness  of  the  manufactures  exported, 
has  been  at  the  cost  of  at  least  eighty  dollars  of  home 
traffic.  Or,  if  because  of  the  cheapness  of  the  whole 
export,  raw  and  manufactured,  it  has  been  at  the  cost 
of  more  than  thirteen  dollars  of  our  home  trade,  with 
the  incalculable  poverty  and  misery  brought  upon  our 
people  by  idleness  and  low  wages,  whilst  in  the  pur- 
suit of  this  maddest  of  all  follies,  foreign  markets  for 
the  consumption  of  our  manufactures.  In  this  mad 
pursuit  we  have  found  a  foreign  consumption  for  those 
products  which,  only  because  of  their  cheapness  —  of 
the  manufactures  of  cotton,  wool  and  its  manufac- 
tures, iron  and  steel  and  their  manufactures,  and  boots 
and  shoes  —  can  be  sold  to  the  amount  of  $33,129,391 
per  annum.  This  is  substantially  our  only  offset  for 
the  loss,  in  and  through  cheap  production,  of  fully 
$8,000,000,000  per  annum  of  the  home  trade  of  our 
own  people  —  an  amount  equal  to  nearly  twice  the 
whole  cost  to  the  nation  of  the  war  of  the  rebellion  — 
for  no  doubt  our  food  products  and  raw  cotton,  our 
petroleum,  our  agricultural  and  other  machinery,  with 
most  of  our  smaller  products,  would  find  a  foreign 
market  even  if  the  most  liberal  wages  were  paid  in 
their  production. 

The  millions  of  little  streams  that  flowed  from  the 
labor  and  wages  of  the  masses  who  were  employed  six- 
teen and  eighteen  years  ago,  created  the  great  flood 
that  filled  the  reservoir  from  which  were  drawn  all 
the  fortunes,  all  the  wealth,  all  the  comfort,  all  the 
material  progress  that  so  signally  marked  the  decade 
of  1862  to  1872.  But  the  sudden  throwing  of  three 
millions  of  the  great  industrial  class  out  of  their  ab- 


208  LAND  AND  LABOR. 

normal  employments  of  the  war,  back  upon  the  nor- 
mal industries  which  were  already  full,  and  where  they 
were  not  wanted,  started  a  demoralization  in  all  our 
industries,  and  a  rapid  decline  and  shriveling  of  all 
our  business  interests  that,  though  for  a  time  hidden 
by  the  fever  of  credit  and  speculation  that  followed 
the  war,  have  brought  our  industries  and  trade  to  a 
lower  point  than  ever  before,  and  still  we  seek  lower 
depths. 

Does  foreign  trade  pay  at  the  cost  at  which  we  pur- 
chase it  ?  Are  six  hundred  millions  of  foreign  trade, 
which  we  have  gained,  worth  more,  in  dollars  and 
cents,  than  eight  billions  of  home  traffic,  which  we 
have  lost  ?  This  is  the  question,  squarely  put,  with 
the  evidence  on  which  it  is  based. 

The  truth  is,  there  can  be  no  greater  folly  perpe- 
trated by  our  nation  than  that  of  seeking  to  employ, 
or  in  any  way  to  benefit,  our  own  people  by  producing 
or  manufacturing  for  any  other.  The  reasons  why  it 
is  so  are  abundant  and  obvious.  I  will  give  a  few. 

1.  No  people  without  domestic  industries  can  possi- 
bly be  permanent  or  profitable  purchasers  of  foreign 
products.     It  is  with  a  nation  as  with  individuals  — 
by  and  through  its  industries,  only,  can  it  exist  and 
become  a  purchaser  in  any  market. 

2.  Every  nation  that  sustains  an  industry  must  and 
will  employ  that  industry  in  producing  that  which  en- 
ters directly  into  the  consumption  of  its  own  people. 
That  nation  which  is  compelled  to  depend  on  the  for- 
eigner for  either  food,  clothing,  or  lodging,  is  wanting 
in  some  of  the  elements  of  permanent  prosperity. 

3.  Every  country  advanced  in  its  civilization  must 


FOREIGN  TRADE  NO  REMEDY.  209 

have  the  elements  within  itself  for  self  support ;  and 
if  it  be  wanting  in  any  of  the  mechanical  appliances 
of  the  age  necessary  to  develop  its  resources,  those 
appliances  will  be  obtained  and  utilized. 

4.  There  is  no  large  and  permanent  market  for  our 
manufactures  with  any  advanced  people  ;    all  such 
must  and  will  manufacture  for  themselves,  and  are 
even  now  seeking  foreign  markets  for  their  own  pro- 
ducts.    Whenever  our  manufactures  and  products,  or 
those  of  any  other  people,  come  into  serious  competi- 
tion with  their  own  at  home,  they  are  sure  to  be  ex- 
cluded or  heavily  taxed.     The  law  of  self  preservation 
compels  it. 

5.  Our  present  chief  effort  is  to  find  markets  with 
those  populations  that  are  not  yet  fully  developed  in 
their  use  of  the  latest  mechanical  methods  of  produc- 
tion.    All  such  are  either  too  poor  or  too  exclusive  to 
become  profitable  consumers  of  the  products  of  our 
civilization.    It  is  only  by  developing  advanced  indus- 
tries in  the  midst  of  those  peoples  that  their  condition 
can  be  changed  or  improved  ;  and  that  will  be  done  to 
the  exclusion  of  any  considerable  foreign  consumption. 

More  than  four  years  ago  the  following  item  ap- 
peared in  the  columns  of  the  New  York  Tribune  of 
February  24,  1879.  Is  it  possible  that  there  is  any 
one  so  blind  that  between  the  lines  of  this  item  he 
can  not  read  the  future  of  trade  in  more  things  than 
cotton  fabrics  ? 

COTTON  MILLS  FOR  CHINA. 

LONDON,  Saturday,  Feb.  22,  1879. 

The  Post's  Berlin  correspondent  says:  "The  Chinese  Gov- 
ernment have  purchased  machinery  and  engaged  experienced 


210  LAND  AND  LABOR. 

engineers  and  spinners  in  Germany  to  establish  cotton  mills  in 
China,  so  as  to  free  that  country  from  dependence  upon  English 
and  Russian  imports." 

Though  China  is  somewhat  tardy  in  her  action  we 
may  be  certain  that  she  will  he  thorough.  Not  only 
the  English  and  Russians,  hut  all  others,  will  find  that 
market  not  closed  to  cottons  alone,  hut  to  everything 
that  that  people  consume.  More  than  this  ;  the  time 
is  not  far  distant  when  textiles  from  Chinese  machine 
looms  ;  iron,  and  steel,  and  cutlery,  from  Chinese  fur- 
naces, forges,  and  workshops,  with  everything  that 
machinery  ,and  cheap  lahor  can  produce,  will  crowd 
every  market.  The  four  hundred  millions  of  China, 
with  the  two  hundred  and  fifty  millions  of  India  — 
the  crowded  and  pauperized  populations  of  Asia  — 
will  offer  the  cup  of  cheap  machine  lahor,  filled  to  the 
brim,  to  our  lips,  and^force  us  to  drink  it  to  the  dregs, 
if  we  do  not  learn  wisdom.  It  is  in  Asia,  if  anywhere, 
that  the  world  is  to  find  its  workshop.  There  are  the 
masses  —  all  the  conditions  necessary  to  develop  the 
power  of  cheapness  to  perfection,  and  those  conditions 
will  he  used.  For  years  we  have  been  doing  our  ut- 
most to  teach  the  Chinese  shoemaking,  spinning  and 
weaving,  engine  driving,  machine  building,  and  other 
arts,  in  California,  Massachusetts,  and  other  States, 
and  we  may  be  sure  they  will  make  good  use  of  their 
lessons,  all  being  under  contract  to  be  returned  to 
China,  dead  or  alive.  There  is  no  people  on  earth 
with  more  patient  skill  and  better  adapted  to  the  use 
of  machinery  than  the  Chinese  ;  and  it  is  from  that 
people  in  particular,  that  the  industrial  world  must 
protect  itself.  What  the  Chinese  government  is 


FOREIGN  TRADE  NO  REMEDY.  211 

doing  for  China,  Dom  Pedro  is  doing  for  Brazil,  but 
it  may  be,  in  a  different  form.  That  country,  like 
every  other,  in  order  to  prosper  and  develop  must  do 
its  own  work;  this  fact  its  intelligent  ruler  thor- 
oughly understands  and  acts  upon. 

We  have  our  own  work  to  do  and  no  other.  It  is 
the  only  work  we  can  control,  and  is  our  only  depend- 
ence. Is  it  wise  to  neglect  or  sacrifice  it  for  the  pur- 
pose of  grasping  what  we  can  not  hold,  even  if  we 
could  once  get  it  ?  We  have  our  own  market  to  sup- 
ply, and  our  trade  at  home,  and  there  is  no  other  over 
which  we  can,  by  any  possibility,  have  full  command. 
This  market  and  the  consequent  trade  may  be  almost 
indefinitely  extended.  Is  it  wise  to  destroy  it  in  pur- 
suit of  an  ignis  fatuus  ? 

With  our  industries  and  home  traffic  rehabilitated 
there  can  be  no  doubt  that  our  foreign  trade  would 
largely  increase  in  some  directions.  But  it  would  be 
of  a  character  very  unlike  the  present,  and  based  on  a 
very  different  foundation.  It  would  be  a  trade  resting 
on  the  wealth  of  the  people,  and  not  living  on  their 
poverty  ;  a  trade  that  would  add  to  our  comfort,  and 
not  increase  our  miseries.  Our  best  consumers  and 
customers  are  at  home.  It  is  our  home  market  that 
furnishes,  or  that  can  be  made  to  furnish,  an  inex- 
haustible source  of  wealth  and  comfort  for  all ;  whilst 
a  general  foreign  market  for  our  products  can  be  ob- 
tained only  at  the  cost  of  more  than  ten  dollars  of 
home  trade  for  one  of  foreign,  with  the  pauperizing 
of  our  people  and  the  destruction  of  our  institutions. 

But  all  the  evils  of  foreign  trade  are  by  no  means 
confined  to  the  effort  for  successful  competition  in  ob- 


212  LAND  AND  LABOR. 

taining  foreign  markets.  The  compelling  of  our  peo- 
ple to  compete  with  the  cheap  slave  or  free  labor  of 
Europe  and  Asia,  and  of  the  islands  of  the  East  and 
of  the  West,  for  the  supply  of  whatever  may  enter 
into  our  own  consumption,  is  an  evil  of  the  greatest 
magnitude.  One  fact  alone  in  this  connection,  should 
be  enough  to  cause  us  to  bar  our  doors  to  all  foreign 
products  that  can  be  produced  upon  our  own  soil. 

Our  imports  of  merchandise  for  the  year  1882,  are 
reported  at  $752,843,507.  Included  in  this  amount 
are  the  following  items  :  - 

LIST   OF   SPECIAL   ARTICLES   OP   IMPORTATION,   WITH   THEIR   IN- 
VOICE  VALUES. 

Breadstuff's  and  other  farinaceous  food, $17,487,737 

Manufactures  of  cotton, 36,093,169 

Eggs, 2,645,610 

Earthen,  stone,  and  China  ware, 7,507,046 

Flax,  and  manufactures  of, 19,907,928 

Glass  and  glass  ware, 7,443,211 

Hides,  other  than  furs, 27,237,065 

Hemp,  and  manufactures  of, 5,975,859 

Iron  and  steel,  and  manufactures  of, 49,209,964 

Leather  and  manufactures  of, 13,197,523 

Potatoes, 3,827,142 

Provisions, 2,395,493 

Silk,  manufactures  of, 41,415,984 

Soda,  salts  of, 5,400,269 

Sugar  and  molasses, 101,806,697 

Tobacco  and  manufactures  of, 9,053,903 

Watches,  materials  and  movements, 2,793,273 

Wines,  spirits,  cordials, 10,540,476 

Wood,  manufactures  of, 11,019,549 

Wool  and  manufactures  of, 53,784,300 

Total, $418,739,198 


FOREIGN  TRADE  NO  REMEDY.  213 

The  above  amount  is  the  foreign  valuation  fixed  for 
exportation  and  to  avoid  duties,  and  must  be  quite  or 
fully  doubled  to  represent  the  true  value  in  our  mar- 
kets ;  which  shows  an  importation  to  the  value  of 
eight  hundred  millions  of  dollars,  of  products  that 
can  be  as  well  produced  in  our  own  country  as  on  any 
other  portion  of  the  globe.  There  are  other  articles 
not  here  specified,  but  of  large  importance. 

Whilst  we  are  making  these  vast  importations,  the 
product  of  the  slave  and  pauper  labor  of  other  coun- 
tries, we  have  millions  of  our  own  people  who  are  suf- 
fering every  distress,  even  to  death  itself,  for  want  of 
the  very  work  of  which  they  are  thus  robbed.  This 
is  the  whole  matter  in  a  single  paragraph.  Is  it  not 
clearly  a  case  of  that  monstrous  madness  of  which 
only  an  American  politician  and  the  popular  political 
economist  are  capable  ? 

Add  to  these  facts  that  other  which  is  equally  po- 
tent, viz. :  —  That  the  production  of  these  various 
articles  at  home,  by  our  own  people,  and  of  every 
other  that  can  be  here  produced,  would  increase  the 
amount  of  trade  incident  thereto  to  a  degree  at  least 
ten  fold  greater  than  is  now  derived  by  us  from  their 
importation,  puts  the  folly,  the  criminality,  of  our 
present  policy  in  still  stronger  light. 

Whilst  our  markets  are  open  to  the  products  of  the 
slaves  and  paupers  of  the  world,  there  can  be  no  im- 
provement with  us ;  we  are  brought  into  direct  com- 
petition with  them,  and  our  people  are  forced  to  their 
level.  The  weight  of  the  world's  poverty  is  more 
than  we  can  carry.  Left  to  ourselves,  giving  that  pro- 
tection to  all  interests,  without  exception,  that  will 


214  LAND  AND  LABOR. 

guarantee  to  every  industry  the  full  benefit  to  be  de- 
rived from  our  own  developments,  would  at  once 
place  us  upon  the  highway  to  prosperity,  and  shower 
the  blessings  of  universal  industry  on  all  alike. 

These  are  the  invulnerable  grounds  that  should  be 
taken  by  all  who  have  a  sincere  desire  for  the  good 
of  society  in  general,  or  of  any  of  its  members.  In 
them  there  is  not  necessarily  one  particle  of  sentiment 
or  philanthropy.  Our  distresses  are  not  the  work  of 
sentiment,  but  of  material  conditions.  So,  also,  the 
measures  here  suggested,  may  be  looked  upon  as  mat- 
ters of  the  purest  material  interest,  under  the  guid- 
ance of  the  simplest  elements  of  common  sense ;  but 
still  they  are  in  full  harmony  with  every  principle  of 
humanity  and  social  advancement. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

CONSTANT    WORK    FOB    ALL,    WITH    LIBERAL    WAGES, 
THE   ONLY    SOURCE   OF   A   NATION'S   PROSPERITY. 

BY  constant  work  is  not  meant  labor  for  the  whole 
of  every  day,  but  that  every  day  there  shall  be 
that  amount  of  employment  that  will  supply  all  the 
requirements  of  society,  and  furnish  the  laborer  with 
liberal  subsistence.  Of  the  value  of  labor  in  the  crea- 
tion of  wealth  I  quote  high  authority. 

"  It  was  not  by  gold  or  by  silver,  but  by  labor,  that  all  the 
wealth  of  the  world  was  originally  purchased." 

"  Though  the  manufacturer  has  his  wages  advanced  to  him 
by  his  master,  he,  in  reality,  costs  him  no  expense,  the  whole 
value  of  those  wages  being  generally  restored,  together  with  a 
profit,  in  the  improved  value  of  the  subject  upon  which  his  la- 
bor is  bestowed.  But  the  maintenance  of  a  menial  servant  never 
is  restored.  A  man  grows  rich  by  employing  a  multitude  of 
manufacturers;  he  grows  poor  by  maintaining  a  multitude 
of  menial  servants."  —  Wealth  of  Nations. 

"  Dr.  Smith  perceived  that  the  universal  agent  in  the  creation 
of  wealth  is  labor ;  which  in  every  case  produces  it."  —  M.  GAR- 
NIEB,  in  the  Introduction  to  Edinburgh  edition  of  1817,  Wealth  of 
Nations. 

The  principle  here  so  clearly  laid  down,  of  the  truth 
of  which,  in  its  fullest  sense,  there  can  not  be  a  shadow 
215 


216  LAND  AND  LABOR. 

of  doubt  by  the  careful  student  of  economic  laws,  that 
it  is  by  labor  only,  and  not  by  gold  or  by  silver,  that 
all  wealth  is  created,  does  not  at  this  time  appear  to 
be  generally  recognized.  On  the  contrary,  among  our 
most  popular  economists,  and  with  the  mass  of  manu- 
facturers and  producers,  the  effort  appears,  as  by  com- 
mon consent,  to  be  directed  to  the  creation  of  wealth 
by  means  of  mechanical  tools  and  forces,  without  the 
use  of  labor — manual  labor  be  it  always  understood 
—  or  by  the  use  of  the  smallest  possible  amount,  and 
at  the  least  possible  compensation.  With  what  suc- 
cess, and  with  what  effect  upon  society,  the  universal 
industrial  and  business  distress  clearly  show. 

The  experience  of  the  world  invariably  proves  that 
whenever  and  wherever  the  people  have  been  most 
generally  employed,  and  best  compensated,  then  and 
there  has  society  been  most  prosperous,  and  increase 
of  wealth  and  all  moral  and  material  development  the 
most  rapid.  But  that,  on  the  other  hand,  whenever 
the  people  have  been  least  employed,  and  the  lowest 
wages  received,  then  and  there  has  society  made  the 
least  progress,  and  endured  the  greatest  distress. 
That  whenever  any  nation  or  people  has  been  suffer- 
ing great  distress,  with  stagnation  and  disaster  in  all 
business,  the  bringing  of  the  masses  into  general  em- 
ployment, with  good  wages,  have  always  had  the  im- 
mediate effect  of  restoring  prosperity  to  every  interest, 
and  giving  life  and  activity  to  every  development. 

In  the  history  of  our  own  people  we  have  had  two 
demonstrations  of  the  truth  of  these  propositions  ;  one 
of  them  the  most  remarkable  within  the  history  of 
man.  Previous  to  1861  there  had  been  gradually 


TEE  SOURCE  OF  PROSPERITY.  217 

growing  upon  us  a  condition  of  great  industrial  and 
business  distress,  so  that  in  1860  there  were  multi- 
tudes out  of  employment  —  those  having  work  receiv- 
ing the  smallest  possible  compensation  —  with  great 
destitution  in  all  our  larger  towns  and  cities.  In  1857 
there  were  4,932  failures,  and  in  1861  the  number  had 
increased  to  6,993.  But  in  that  year  the  large  armies 
that  were  formed  absorbed  great  numbers  of  the  un- 
employed. The  old  industries  were  made  active,  and 
new  industries  were  created,  which  also  made  addi- 
tional demand  for  laborers,  and  tended  directly  to  the 
increase  of  wages,  larger  consumption  of  the  necessa- 
ries of  life,  activity  in  trade,  with  greatly  developed 
production.  The  result  of  these  operations  was  gen- 
eral prosperity,  indicated  by  the  reduction  of  the 
number  of  failures  in  1862,  from  6,993  of  the  previ- 
ous year,  to  1,652,  being  a  falling  off  of  5,341  in  one 
year,  and  of  1,157  in  the  next,  there  having  been  only 
495  failures  in  1863,  and  for  the  next  two  years  a 
change  from  that  figure  of  but  35. 

For  four  years  following  the  summer  of  1861  there 
was  an  increasing  demand  for  the  employment  of  the 
people,  with  an  increase  of  wages,  and  fully  corre- 
sponding increase  in  the  prosperity  and  development 
of  society.  How  great  was  that  development  and 
prosperity  the  Hon.  Daniel  Needham,  United  States 
Bank  Examiner  for  Massachusetts,  has  told  in  an 
address  delivered  by  him  before  a  meeting  of  the 
Woonsocket,  Rhode  Island,  Horticultural  and  Indus- 
trial Association,  October  3,  1877,  as  reported  in  the 
Massachusetts  Ploughman,  of  October  13th,  of  that 
year.  His  description  is  so  thoroughly  truthful — so 


218  LAND  AND  LABOR. 

generally  covers  the  ground  —  and  his  authority  so 
unimpeachable,  that  its  facts  are  commended  to  the 
careful  study  of  all. 

"  There  was  a  growth  and  development  of  business  in  the 
northern  and  western  portions  of  the  United  States,  such  as  no 
nation  ever  experienced  before.  There  was  building  of  new 
mills,  and  enlarging  old  ones;  there  was  adding  tens  of  thou- 
sands of  spindles  to  the  thousands  already  running ;  there  was 
adding  steam  engines  to  aid  water  power,  and  the  adoption  of 
new  machinery,  which  increased  to  a  fabulous  extent  the  ca- 
pacity to  manufacture  cotton  and  woolen  fabrics. 

"  There  was  the  establishment  of  hundreds  of  banks  —  the 
building  of  thousands  of  miles  of  railroad  —  settling  new  coun- 
tries—  cutting  down  forests  —  building  cities  in  most  distant 
portions  of  the  Republic  —  and  opening  communication  by  rail- 
road with  the  Pacific  Coast. 

"The  history  of  those  ten  years  of  industrial  growth  and 
prosperity  would  fill  many  volumes. 

"  Wages  advanced  as  the  industries  increased.  Workers  in 
iron,  and  steel,  and  brass,  and  wood,  and  stone  were  as  greatly 
in  demand  as  workers  in  cotton  and  wool.  The  common  coarse 
domestic  cottons  sold  for  fifty  and  sixty  cents  a  yard,  and  woolen 
goods  doubled,  and  trebled,  and  quadrupled  in  value. 

"  Adding,  as  did  these  exorbitant  prices,  to  the  cost  of  living, 
wages  kept  pace  with  the  goods,  and  our  wives  and  children 
dressed  better  than  before.  The  cost  of  the  absolute  necessa- 
ries of  life  were  also  in  keeping  with  woolen  and  cotton  goods. 
Flour,  sugar,  rice,  coffee,  tea,  rents  —  all  kept  pace  in  the  great 
inflation ;  and  families  indulged  not  only  in  the  necessaries,  but 
in  the  luxuries,  and  everybody  had  abundance.  Never  before 
was  there  such  apparent  prosperity.  There  were  no  men  want- 
ing work  who  failed  to  find  it ;  and  the  laborer,  even  in  the 
most  ordinary  avocation  of  life,  fixed  his  own  price. 

"Mechanics  commanded  from  three  to  six  dollars  a  day; 
common  field  laborers  demanded  and  realized  from  two  and 
one  half  to  three  dollars;  professional  men  doubled  their 


THE  SOURCE  OF  PROSPERITY.  219 

charges,  and  church  committees   recommended  of  their  own 
accord  increase  of  salaries  to  their  pastors. 

"  What  days  were  these  for  America  and  Americans !  We 
may  well  look  back  upon  them  with  wonder  and  astonishment! 
They  grew  upon  us  so  rapidly  that  we  never  stopped  to  con- 
sider that  they  might  not  always  continue.  But  they  had  their 
culmination.  In  1873  the  great  storm  which  this  unparalleled 
expansion  had  been  gathering  burst  upon  the  country,  and  from 
that  day  to  this  things  have  been  growing  worse  rather  than 
better." 

In  this  graphic  narration  of  the  great  prosperity 
that  so  quickly  came  upon  us,  one  other  marked  feat- 
ure of  the  time  might  very  properly  have  received 
special  mention,  viz. :  that  never  before  did  all  invest- 
ments of  capital  in  manufactures,  transportation,  dis- 
tribution, or  other  legitimate  enterprises,  pay  so  great 
an  interest ;  dividends  upon  actual  earnings  rarely 
falling  below  ten  or  fifteen,  and  often  exceeding  fifty 
per  cent,  per  annum. 

It  will  be  specially  noted  that  no  attempt  is  made 
to  show  the  cause  of  this  marvellous  "industrial 
growth  and  prosperity."  It  is  merely  said  that  it 
"  grew  upon  us  so  rapidly  that  we  never  stopped  to 
consider."  And  it  is  equally  true  that  we  have  not 
yet  stopped  to  consider  either  the  cause  of  this  sudden 
and  sweeping  "  prosperity,"  or  the  nearly  equal  sud- 
denness, and  as  wide  spread  following,  of  the  adversity 
and  distress  that  "from  that  day  to  this  have  been 
growing  worse  rather  than  better/'  No  man  can  be 
so  foolish,  and  least  of  all  men  the  one  who  so  well 
describes  the  facts  of  our  great  "industrial  growth 
and  prosperity  that  would  fill  many  volumes,"  as  for 
an  instant  to  suppose,  or,  much  more,  to  say,  that 


220  LAND  AND  LABOR. 

those  great  events  were  without  causes,  in  every  way 
commensurate  with  the  effects  that  followed.  Causes 
as  great,  as  wide  spread,  and  as  sweeping  ;  which,  if 
any  one  failed  to  see  them,  it  could  only  be  because 
of  wilful  blindness,  or  not  wishing  to  know  them. 

It  is  there  said  that  "never  before  was  there  such 
apparent  prosperity."  It  is  certain  that  never  before 
did  any  so  brief  a  period  leave  such  indelible  marks 
of  the  genuineness  and  realness  of  its  prosperity  as 
were  left  by  that  period  ;  and  the  attempt  to  belittle 
it  is  but  a  sign  of  the  general  fatuity.  It  is  also 
called  a  "  great  inflation." 

Inflation,  indeed  !  Was  there  ever  anything  more 
substantial,  more  real,  than  the  vast  developments 
that  marked  the  period  under  discussion  ?  Was  it 
all  accomplished  by  windy  and  gaseous  distensions  ? 
Was  there  no  better  foundation  for  the  great  prosper- 
ity which  "  we  may  well  look  back  upon  with  wonder 
and  astonishment  ?  "  These  occasional  deprecations 
and  belittleings  are  but  the  echoes  of  the  common 
fatuousness  that  marks  the  general  reference  to  those 
times. 

Just  previous  to  the  commencement  of  that  period, 
in  1861,  our  government  was  nearly  bankrupt,  being 
unable  to  obtain  a  loan  at  less  than  twelve  per  cent., 
and  our  people  were  ground  to  the  earth  with  debt. 
Within  four  years  thereafter,  at  the  close  of  1855,  all 
the  great  changes  and  progress  above  noted  had  been 
fully  developed,  or  were  in  process  of  development ; 
our  national  credit  was  established  on  a  firmer  basis 
than  ever  before,  and  Secretary  McCulloch  officially 
reported  that  our  people  were  substantially  out  of 


THE  SOURCE  OF  PROSPERITY.  221 

debt.  Was  there  nothing  real  in  all  that  ?  Was  it 
merely  inflation  ?  "  Our  wives  and  children  dressed 
better  than  before ;  families  indulged  not  only  in  the 
necessaries,  but  in  the  luxuries,  and  everybody  had 
abundance."  And  that  was  done  without  running  in 
debt,  said  Secretary  McCulloch.  Was  it  merely  infla- 
tion ?  Nothing  but  wind  ? 

For  some  years  before  and  down  to  the  sudden 
commencement  of  this  prosperous  period  there  were 
large  numbers  of  our  people  without  employment, 
and  consequently  without  the  means  of  living  —  hun- 
gry and  nearly  naked — begging  their  food  from  door 
to  door,  or  in  other  ways  living  upon  charity.  The 
very  first  incident  that  marked  the  beginning  of  that 
period  of  prosperity  was  the  bringing  of  these  idle 
people  into  employment,  until  "there  were  no  men 
wanting  work  who  failed  to  find  it."  This  is  the 
great  initial  fact  that  governed  the  whole  matter,  and 
should  not  for  a  moment  be  lost  sight  of.  But  our 
orator  does  not  appear  to  see  that  it  possesses  any 
significance.  Then  followed  all  the  succeeding  inci- 
dents as  follow  the  workings  of  the  parts  of  a  great 
machine,  or  the  operations  of  a  great  factory  after  the 
engine  is  put  in  motion,  or  the  motive  power  is  ap- 
plied. "  Wages  advanced  as  the  industries  increased. 
Workers  in  iron,  and  steel,  and  brass,  and  wood,  and 
stone  were  as  greatly  in  demand  as  workers  in  cotton 
and  wool.  Mechanics  commanded  from  three  to  six 
dollars  a  day ;  common  field  laborers  demanded  and 
realized  from  two  and  one  half  to  three  dollars  ;  pro- 
fessional men  doubled  their  charges,  and  church  com- 
mittees recommended  of  their  own  accord  increase  of 


222  LAND  AND  LABOR. 

salaries  to  their  pastors,"  Then,  also,  came  an  imme- 
diate rise  in  prices  for  all  that  entered  into  the  use 
and  consumption  of  man.  "  The  common  domestic 
cottons  sold  for  fifty  and  sixty  cents  a  yard,  and  wool- 
en goods  doubled,  trebled,  and  quadrupled  in  value. 
Flour,  sugar,  rice,  coffee,  tea,  rents  —  all  kept  pace  in 
the  great  advance"  and  all  investments  of  capital  in 
industrial  enterprises  paid  large  dividends  ;  some  even 
as  much  as  one  hundred  per  cent,  per  annum.  Well 
might  the  lecturer  exclaim,  "  What  days  were  these 
for  America  and  Americans  ! "  for  "  never  before  was 
there  such  real  prosperity." 

The  motive  power  that  produced  these  results  was 
the  labor  of  the  masses,  and  the  incidents  of  that  pe- 
riod of  prosperity  followed  each  other  in  the  exact 
order  here  indicated  with  the  immutable  certainty  of 
cause  and  effect. 

Our  lecturer  further  said :  —  "In  1873  the  great 
storm  which  this  unparalleled  expansion  had  been 
gathering  burst  upon  the  country."  Here  commences 
the  great  fallacies  into  which  he,  in  common  with 
most  others,  have  fallen.  The  beginning  of  the  storm 
was  not  in  1873,  nor  even  its  culmination,  which  is 
not  yet  reached.  It  was  upon  us  in  force  in  1867,  and 
constantly  gained  in  fury  till  1873.  It  is  true  that 
in  that  year  the  storm  which  had  been  raging  for 
seven  years  brought  down  some  of  our  tallest  steeples  ; 
this  caused  the  general  panic.  But  previous  to  the 
fall  of  these  towers  thousands  of  other  structures  had 
been  brought  to  the  earth  whose  foundations  were  as 
well  laid,  and  whose  edifices  were  as  useful  to  the  so- 
ciety which  surrounded  them,  as  the  tallest  of  the 


THE  SOURCE  OF  PROSPERITY.  223 

fallen  spires.  In  1866  the  failures  had  nearly  trebled 
the  number  in  1865 ;  in  1867  the  number  was  more 
than  five  times  greater,  being  2,780  against  530  in 
1865.  The  percentage  of  failures  in  1867  rose  to  the 
extraordinary  rate  of  1  in  every  74,  a  rate  that  was 
not  again  reached  until  1877.  In  1872  there  were 
4,069  failures,  and  in  1873,  the  year  of  the  panic, 
there  were  5,183,  being  1,810  less  than  in  1861,  at  the 
close  of  the  great  distress  before  the  war,  and  158  less 
than  the  falling  off  in  the  next  year,  1862,  after  the 
people  had  been  brought  into  general  employment. 
In  the  seven  years  preceding  1873  there  had  been 
20,222  failures,  and  from  1865  to  this  time  there  has 
been  a  nearly  constant  yearly  augmentation. 

The  storm  really  commenced  in  1865,  and  the  very 
first  incident  which  marked  its  beginning  was  the 
sudden  throwing  of  three  millions  of  persons,  in  the 
North  alone,  out  of  employment  into  idleness  ;  as  the 
first  incident  at  the  beginning  of  our  prosperous  period 
was  the  bringing  into  employment  of  the  great  body 
of  the  then  unemployed.  The  throwing  of  these  great 
numbers  out  of  employment  was  followed  by  there 
being  many  "men  wanting  work  who  failed  to  find 
it ; "  by  wages  being  reduced  and  demand  for  laborers 
decreased ;  by  workers  in  iron,  and  steel,  and  brass, 
and  wood,  and  stone  being  as  little  in  demand  as 
workers  in  cotton  and  wool.  Mechanics  now,  when 
they  can  get  work,  are  fortunate  to  obtain  from  one 
to  one  and  a  half  dollars  a  day,  in  place  of  three  to 
six,  as  in  the  period  of  our  general  prosperity  ;  com- 
mon field  laborers  are  glad  to  get  seventy-five  cents 
and  one  dollar,  where  formerly  they  received  two  and 


224  LAND  AND  LABOR. 

one  half  to  three ;  professional  men  have  reduced  their 
charges  by  more  than  one  half,  and  church  committees 
are  compelled  to  reduce  the  salaries  of  their  pastors. 
The  common  coarse  domestic  cottons  that  sold  for 
fifty  and  sixty  cents  a  yard  when  all  were  employed, 
now  sell  for  five  and  six  cents,  and  woolen  goods  have 
fallen  one  half  and  three  fourths  in  value.  But  yet 
our  wives  and  children  can  not  dress  as  well  as  before  ; 
families  can  not  indulge  even  in  the  necessaries,  omit- 
ting all  luxuries,  and  no  one  has  abundance.  Invest- 
ments of  capital  in  manufactures,  transportation,  dis- 
tribution, and  other  legitimate  enterprises,  often  prove 
absolute  losses  ;  many  hardly  pay  expenses,  and  very 
few  pay  even  five  or  six  per  cent,  per  annum.  What 
a  contrast !  What  terrible  days  are  these  for  America 
and  Americans  !  "  We  may  well  look  upon  them  with 
wonder  and  astonishment ! "  and  seriously  inquire  what 
has  brought  them  upon  us  ? 

Most  certainly  the  causes  which  lay  at  the  founda- 
tion of  our  present  distress  are  the  very  opposites  of 
the  causes  which  gave  us  our  great  prosperity.  We 
have  seen  that  the  very  first  incident  at  the  beginning 
of  our  period  of  prosperity  was  the  removal  of  all  from 
idleness  to  employment ;  and  the  very  first  incident  at 
the  beginning  of  our  distress  was  the  change  of  multi- 
tudes from  active,  well  paid  employment,  into  idleness. 
In  each  case  those  great  changes  have  been  followed  by 
effects  that  are  inseparable  and  in  strict  harmony  with 
fundamental  economic  laws,  well  known  to  every  true 
economic  student,  and  laid  down  by  Adam  Smith  in 
the  simplest  and  clearest  language,  that  "  it  was  not 
by  gold  or  by  silver,  but  by  labor,  that  all  the  wealth 


THE  SOURCE  OF  PROSPERITY.  225 

of  the  world  was  originally  purchased  ; "  and  that 
"a  man  grows  rich  by  employing  a  multitude  of 
manufacturers." 

Most  certainly  if  it  is  by  labor  that  all  the  wealth 
of  the  world  is  created,  and  if  a  man  grows  rich  by 
employing  a  multitude  of  workmen,  then  the  converse 
of  these  propositions  must  be  true,  that  it  is  because 
labor  is  not  employed,  or  only  to  a  very  small  extent 
—  because  of  the  great  amount  of  idleness —  that  the 
world  is  distressed  and  man  is  made  poor. 

It  is  an  indisputable  fact  that  when  our  industrial 
classes  have  been  most  generally  employed,  and  in 
receipt  of  the  most  liberal  compensations,  that  period 
has  been  marked  with  the  most  general  prosperity 
and  society  has  made  the  greatest  advancement.  But 
that,  on  the  other  hand,  when  the  people  have  been 
least  employed,  and  in  receipt  of  the  smallest  com- 
pensations, then  is  the  time  of  greatest  adversity  and 
society  absolutely  goes  backward.  That  the  last  is 
our  present  condition  is  manifest  to  every  thoughtful 
person.  Even  in  the  works  of  those  who  make  it  their 
business  to  show  that  we  are  now  enjoying  a  period 
of  unusual  prosperity  there  is  the  clearest  evidence 
of  the  great  distress  by  which  we  are  surrounded.  In 
the  Tenth  Annual  Report  of  the  Bureau  of  Labor 
Statistics  for  Massachusetts  is  found  the  following 
testimony  upon  this  point,  from  both  manufacturers 
and  workmen  in  that  State,  in  answer  to  inquiries 
from  the  Bureau  :  — 

"  We  think  the  question  will  be,  Can  they  [the  workmen]  get 
employment  at  all  ?  "  —  Agricultural  Implements,  (6)  page  148. 
"  We  have  to  rush  through  such  styles  as  fashion  dictates, 


226  LAND  AND  LABOR. 

giving  us  about  eight  months  full  time  and  four  months  dull 
trade."  — Boots  and  Shoes,  (a)  page  149. 

"  During  the  last  five  years  the  trouble  has  been  in  not  hav- 
ing work  enough  to  give  reasonable  employment  to  body  and 
mind.  The  uncertainty  of  values,  and  the  consequent  fitfulness 
of  trade  —  each  man  buying  what  he  has  previously  sold — have 
deprived  each  employer  and  employe*  of  the  regularity  needed 
to  realize  any  profit  in  the  business."  —  Ibid,  (&)  page  149. 

"  The  diflSculty  of  keeping  our  employes  at  work  steadily  any 
number  of  hours  per  day  throughout  the  year  is  one  of  the 
greatest  disadvantages  under  which  our  business  labors.  It  is 
only  for  a  short  time  each  season  that  we  can  have  the  balance 
of  work  and  workmen  properly  adjusted.  The  demand  for 
goods,  for  a  time,  is  greater  than  we  can  supply ;  while  for  a 
much  larger  part  of  the  year  we  have  more  men  than  we  need." 
—Ibid.,  (d)  page  149. 

"  Our  busy  or  hurried  season  begins  now  early  in  March,  and 
usually  ends  by  the  first  or  middle  of  July.  For  the  past  few 
months  we  have  not  only  reduced  the  hours  of  labor,  but  our 
force,  waiting  for  a  solution  of  the  question  so  important  to 
manufacturers;  viz.,  What  can  be  done  to  assist  the  distribu- 
tion and  consumption  of  our  manufactures  at  living  prices  ? " 
—  Carriages,  page  150. 

"  Our  season  extends  only  over  a  small  part  of  the  year,  be- 
ginning usually  in  February,  closing  in  June,  a  very  few  being 
made  in  August  and  September.  Many  of  our  employe's  can 
not  obtain  other  work  for  the  balance  of  the  year  when  not  em- 
ployed in  our  branch  of  business."  — Straw  Goods,  (V)  page  155. 

"Since  October,  1873,  we,  with  other  tack  manufacturers, 
have  averaged  only  two  thirds  time.-'  —  Tacks,  page  155. 

"  In  times  of  great  business  depression,  such  as  we  have  been 
going  through  for  the  last  three  or  four  years,  the  working  peo- 
ple especially  are  led  to  believe  there  must  be  something  radi- 
cally wrong  in  the  management  of  our  business  industries  to 
cause  such  depression.  Things  seem  to  get  worse  rather  than 
better,  and  as  yet  no  one  seems  to  know  the  remedy."  —  Textiles, 
(g)  page  159. 


THE  SOURCE  OF  PROSPERITY.  227 

"  The  wages  of  operatives  are  now  very  low,  with  a  strong 
prospect  of  going  lower  before  Spring.  Mills  are  running  with 
a  smaller  number  of  hands  than  ever  before."  —  Ibid.,  (K)  page 
161. 

"  As  the  best  prices  manufacturers  can  afford  to  pay  during 
the  present  depression  is  barely  sufficient  to  support  most  of  the 
families,  any  reduction  in  that  amount  will  inevitably  result  in 
the  misery  and  starvation  of  some  of  them.  This  mill  has  run 
every  hour  it  was  possible  under  the  law  during  the  last  five 
years,  only  stopping  for  necessary  repairs ;  and  we  have  made 
no  profits,  only  keeping  our  operatives  alive."  —  Ibid.,  (k)  pages 
161-2. 

In  answer  to  some  of  the  inquiries  addressed  to 
workmen,  the  following  replies  were  received  in  rela- 
tion to  their  condition. 

"  9.    a.    Do  you  live  as  well  as  you  did  five  years  ago  ? 

"In  answer,  138  said,  'I  do  not;'  6  replied,  *  Not  half  as 
well ; '  and  3,  '  Not  quite  as  well.'  On  the  other  hand,  62  said, 
4  Yes ; '  10,  '  Nearly  the  same ; '  and  4,  '  Better ; '  7  did  not  an- 
swer the  inquiry. 

"9.  b.  If  not  (living  as  well),  in  what  respect  are  you  worse 
off  than  then  ? 

"The  answers  to  this  inquiry  defy  systematic  tabulation  or 
condensation ;  so  we  present  the  reasons  in  nearly  the  exact 
words  of  the  writers,  the  figures  giving  the  number  of  persons 
coinciding  upon  each  reason :  — 

"'Less  pay,'  30;  'In  all  respects,'  25;  'Out  of  work,'  7; 
*  Afraid  of  coming  to  want,'  1 ;  '  Less  means  for  support,'  3 ; 
'  Can't  afford  to  live  so  well,'  1 ;  '  More  family  and  less  pay,'  5 ; 
4  Do  not  get  paid  promptly,'  1 ;  '  Larger  family,'  1 ;  '  Can't  buy 
what  we  need,'  1 ;  '  Expense  fifteen  per  cent,  less,  and  my  wages 
fifty  per  cent.,'  1;  'Have  had  to  curtail  generally,'  2;  'Less 
work,'  9;  'Less  work,  less  pay,'  9  ;  'No  spare  money,  or  new 
clothing,'  1 ;  '  Savings  most  gone,'  2 ;  '  In  actual  want  of  neces- 


228  LAND  AND  LABOR. 

saries  of  life,'  5 ;  '  Board  is  not  so  good,'  2  ;  *  Wages  less,  and 
cost  of  living  not  reduced  in  proportion,'  3 ;  '  Lost  money  in 
savings  bank,'  1 ;  *  Times  are  hard,'  1 ;  '  Worse  off  in  mind  and 
stomach,'  1 ;  '  Have  cut  short  the  extras,'  2  ;  '  Can't  save  any- 
thing,' 4  ;  *  No  meat,  and  less  of  every  thing,'  2 ;  *  No  work,  and 
credit  gone,'  2  ;  '  Worse  off  as  regards  house,  food,  and  clothing,' 
11;  'Unreasonably  low  wages,'  3;  *  Can't  pay  my  bills,'  1; 
'  Fewer  clothes,'  2 ;  '  Cheaper  food,'  2 ;  *  Lost  my  house,'  1 ;  *  No 
meat,  butter,  or  sugar,'  1 ;  '  Less  of  every  thing  but  food,'  1. 

"  9.  c.  Have  you  been  obliged  to  reduce  your  outlay  for  rent, 
food,  clothing,  and  other  necessities  ?  or  have  you  only  been  forced 
to  deprive  yourself  of  what  might  properly  be  called  'extras,'  or 
luxuries? 

"  To  this  question  120  answered  that  they  have  been  obliged 
to  reduce  all  expenses ;  23  have  made  reductions  in  either  food, 
or  rent,  or  clothing ;  and  14  have  dispensed  with  *  extras.1  A 
factory  operative,  who  has  been  in  the  business  thirty  years, 
says  he  is  obliged  to  live  on  one  meal  a  day  in  order  to  keep 
along."  — Pages  109-10. 

Here  is  the  concurrent  testimony  of  both  employers 
and  workmen  that  it  is  only  for  a  small  portion  of  the 
year  that  work  can  be  found  for  much  the  larger  part 
of  those  who  get  any  employment ;  that  the  mills  are 
running  with  a  smaller  number  of  hands  than  ever  be- 
fore ;  that  wages  will  not  permit  of  any  further  reduc- 
tion, even  to  those  having  constant  work,  except  at  the 
cost  of  misery  and  starvation  ;  that  very  few  live  as 
well  as  they  did  nine  years  ago ;  that  in  every  way 
has  the  condition  of  the  industrial  classes  become 
worse,  even  to  the  want  of  the  barest  necessaries  of 
life,  and  the  living  on  one  meal  a  day.  These  state- 
ments are  well  worth  the  most  careful  study  and  com- 
parison, not  only  with  the  condition  of  things  nine 


THE  SOURCE  OF  PROSPERITY.  229 

years  ago,  but  with  their  condition  as  described  by 
the  Hon.  Daniel  Needham,  in  the  first  portion  of  this 
chapter.  Nine  years  ago  all  our  business  interests 
were  in  the  midst  of  the  distress  that  had  then  been 
raging  like  a  storm  for  full  eight  years,  and  had  strewn 
our  country  with  the  wrecks  of  25,405  trading  houses, 
beside  the  multitude  of  those  engaged  in  other  occu- 
pations of  whom  no  record  can  be  obtained,  all  of 
which  had  thrown  great  numbers  out  of  employment 
and  largely  reduced  wages  and  incomes.  But  the  con- 
dition described  by  Mr.  Needham  was  the  condition 
that  existed  in  1863,  1864,  and  1865,  when  all  the 
people  were  in  active  employment  and  reaping  the 
sure  rewards  of  their  industry  —  before  the  storm  of 
speculation  and  disaster  that  immediately  followed 
the  war  had  burst  upon  us.  Why  1873-4  are  chosen 
as  the  years  to  compare  with  1878-9  can  not  be  un- 
derstood, unless  it  is  to  show  that  our  state  is  still 
tending  from  bad  to  worse. 

Then  question  9.  c.  is  a  most  extraordinary  one. 
What  are  "  extras,"  or  "  luxuries  ?  "  Are  they  car- 
pets, fine  furniture,  fine  ware,  pianos,  organs,  orna- 
ments, etc.  ?  The  production  of  all  these  things  is  a 
part,  and  a  valuable  part,  of  the  industries  of  our 
country,  that  should  be  fostered  and  sustained.  But 
if  their  use  and  consumption  by  the  people  are  de- 
stroyed, how  can  these  industries  be  supported  ?  Are 
they  to  be  deemed,  in  their  use,  as  exclusively  the 
right  of  millionaires  and  plutocrats  ?  All  these  "  ex- 
tras "  and  "  luxuries  "  are  supposed  to  have  an  elevat- 
ing and  refining  influence.  Shall  not  the  workingman 
and  his  family  be  surrounded  by  these  influences  ? 


230  LAND  AND  LABOR. 

Do  not  the  true  interests  of  society,  industrially  and 
socially,  require  that  "  extras  "  and  "  luxuries  "  shall 
be  used  and  consumed  by  the  workingman  as  well  as 
by  the  millionaire  ?  Shall  not  the  makers  and  builders 
of  these  things  have  the  benefit  and  pleasure  of  their 
use,  as  well  as  those  who  trade  in  and  distribute 
them  ?  Can  not  the  users  and  consumers  of  these 
"  extras  "  and  "  luxuries  "  do  without  them  with  less 
damage  to  themselves  than  can  their  manufacturers 
and  dealers  do  without  the  custom  and  consumption 
of  the  masses  of  the  people  ?  Does  not  the  general 
use  or  nonuse  of  "extras"  and  "luxuries"  by  the 
industrial  classes  mark  the  periods  of  prosperity  or 
adversity  ?  Shame  to  the  official  of  Massachusetts 
who  raises  such  questions,  and  by  implication  declares 
that  the  rich  only  may  have  refinements. 

The  great  facts  in  the  whole  matter  are,  that 
eighteen  and  nineteen  years  ago,  when  all  the  people 
were  employed  and  in  receipt  of  wages  at  least  double 
the  amount  of  those  now  received,  though  the  product 
of  the  laborer  was  then  only  about  one  third  of  that 
which  is  now  produced  by  each  workman,  both  em- 
ployer and  workman  then  prospered,  and  society  made 
rapid  progress  in  every  useful  development.  But  now, 
when  the  product  of  the  labor  of  the  workman  is  three 
times  greater  than  it  was  at  the  close  of  the  war,  and 
wa^os  are  not  half  what  they  were  then,  neither  em- 
ployer nor  workman  prosper,  and  society  makes  no 
advance  in  useful  development.  Everything  except- 
ing food  and  rents  is  cheap,  cheaper  than  eve'r  before, 
and  the  masses  are  less  able,  far  less  able  to  now  buy 
and  use  the  cheap  product,  than  they  were  formerly 


THE  SOURCE  OF  PROSPERITY.  231 

to  buy  and  use  the  same  product  at  three  to  five  times 
the  present  cost. 

Why  is  it  ? 

Because,  eighteen  and  nineteen  years  ago  the 
masses,  who  are  always  the  great  consumers  of  all 
products,  were  rich,  as  compared  with  the  present 
time.  They  were  all  employed  and  in  receipt  of  good 
wages,  and  from  their  abundant  means  they  bought 
and  used  freely  and  liberally.  But  now  these  same 
masses  are  in  poverty.  They  are  not  more  than  half 
employed,  and  the  wages  received  are  so  low  that  they 
can  not  buy  and  use  enough  to  supply  the  commonest 
demands  of  existence.  See  the  testimony  of  the  work- 
men and  employers  above. 

Eighteen  and  nineteen  years  ago  the  workman  was 
well  paid,  and  behind  every  product  there  stood  a  well 
fed,  well  clothed,  well  housed,  and  prosperous  man  or 
woman,  able  and  ready  to  buy  and  use  freely  of  the 
product  of  his  or  her  own  labor  and  the  labor  of 
others.  But  now  the  workman  is  but  little  employed 
and  badly  paid,  and  behind  every  cheap  product 
stands  the  skeleton  of  want,  half  fed,  half  clothed, 
badly  housed.  Back  of  cheap  products  there  stalk 
misery,  degradation,  drunkenness,  prostitution,  in- 
sanity, crime,  and  suicide,  with  men  and  women  who 
can  but  very  scantily  buy  and  use  of  the  work  of  their 
own  hands  or  of  that  of  others. 

Eighteen  and  nineteen  years  ago  the  geese  that  laid 
our  golden  eggs  were  well  fed  and  cared  for.  But  now 
avarice  has  them  in  its  power,  and,  under  the  instruc- 
tion of  modern  political  economists,  they  are  starved 
and  squeezed  until  there  is  only  the  skeleton  left. 


232  LAND  AND  LABOR. 

Inasmuch  as  the  great  market  for  all  products  must 
be  found  among  the  masses ;  and  inasmuch  as  the 
masses  are  composed  of  the  working  people  of  society, 
in  all  and  every  occupation  ;  and  inasmuch  as  not  only 
is  all  the  wealth  of  the  world  the  product  of  their  la- 
bor, but,  also,  as  it  is  in  and  by  the  use  and  con- 
sumption of  these  products  by  the  working  classes 
themselves  that  trade  is  created  and  a  demand  for 
distribution  is  made,  which  give  to  the  nonproducer, 
or  capitalist,  the  opportunity  to  obtain  any  portion 
of  these  products,  or  of  the  profits  of  their  use  and 
distribution,  the  smallest  exercise  of  intelligent  self- 
ishness should  teach  them  that  it  is  to  tlieir  direct 
and  immediate  interest  that  the  masses  should  be 
enabled  to  buy  and  consume  the  greatest  possible 
quantity  of  all  of  their  own  products  ;  that  the  in- 
dustrial goose  should  be  well  kept,  well  fed,  that  it 
may  freely  lay  its  golden  eggs.  These  propositions 
are  not  hard  to  understand. 

It  must  always  be  remembered  that  it  is  the  labor 
of  the  workingman  that  produces  everything,  and  that 
the  laborers  are  also  the  great  consumers.  Hence  it  is 
that  between  these  two  points  of  production  and  con- 
sumption that  the  nonproducer  and  capitalist  find 
their  only  opportunities  for  gain  or  profit.  By  tak- 
ing the  products  from  the  hands  of  the  producers, 
and  distributing  them  among  the  consumers,  they 
perform  the  service  which  yields  to  them  their  gains, 
and  it  is  their  only  function.  Consequently  the  high- 
est interest  of  the  capitalist  requires  that  the  masses 
should  be  in  the  most  prosperous  condition,  to  the 
end  that  their  ability  to  consume  may  be  in  every  way 


THE  SOURCE  OF  PROSPERITY.  233 

developed,  and  the  volume  and  profits  of  trade  be 
increased. 

Here  is  where  the  capitalist  finds  it  to  his  interest 
to  employ  manufacturers,  and  in  the  employment  of  a 
multitude  to  grow  rich.  Between  the  production  of 
his  workmen  and  the  consumption  of  the  products, 
whether  consumed  by  his  own  operatives  or  by  others, 
a  trade  is  created,  which  the  manufacturing  capitalist 
holds  and  controls.  All  the  products  of  his  laborers 
passing  through  his  hands  to  the  consumers,  gives 
him  an  opportunity  for  profit  that  is  limited  by  only 
two  conditions  :  first,  the  number  he  employs,  and, 
secondly,  the  ability  of  his  customers  to  buy  and  con- 
sume. If  their  ability  is  great  their  consumption  will 
be  liberal.  If  they  are  paupers,  or  but  little  better, 
their  trade  will  be  worthless.  The  surest  measure  by 
which  the  manufacturing  capitalist  can  gauge  the 
ability  of  the  masses  to  buy  and  consume  of  the  pro- 
ducts he  wishes  to  sell,  is  to  study  the  condition  of  his 
own  employes  ;  he  may  be  sure  that  others  can  not  be 
very  different,  and  that  they  represent  the  great  bulk 
of  his  consumers. 

Manifestly,  then,  when  one  half  of  the  manufac- 
turers, or  workmen,  are  idle,  not  only  one  half  of  the 
producing  power  is  lost,  but  one  half  the  consuming 
power  is  undeveloped  ;  and,  consequently,  the  volume 
of  trade  is  not  more  than  one  half  what  it  might  be. 
But  there  is  still  another  bad  feature  in  this  connec- 
tion. The  nonemployment  of  large  numbers  of  work- 
men creates  a  destructive  competition  among  them, 
that  will  not  only  destroy  their  purchasing  power,  but 
will  react  to  the  destruction  of  all  trade.  This  prin- 


234  LAND  AND  LABOR. 

ciple  is  now  being  fully  illustrated  in  the  late  strikes 
and  stagnation  in  trade. 

A  correct  understanding  of  these  principles  will 
fully  explain  the  maxim  of  Adam  Smith's  that  "  a 
man  grows  rich  by  employing  a  multitude  of  manu- 
facturers/' A  man  does  not  grow  rich  upon  the  pro- 
ducts of  the  few,  but  of  the  many ;  and  the  trader, 
also,  finds  his  profits  in  the  trade  of  the  multitude, 
and  not  in  the  occasional  visitor. 

And  those  other  maxims  of  the  great  political  econ- 
omists should  be  noted,  that  "  though  the  manufac- 
turer has  his  wages  advanced  to  him  by  his  master, 
he,  in  reality,  costs  him  no  expense,  the  whole  value 
of  those  wages  being  generally  restored,  together  with 
a  profit,  in  the  improved  value  of  the  subject  upon 
which  his  labor  is  bestowed  ; "  and,  "  it  was  not  by 
gold  or  by  silver,  but  by  labor,  that  all  the  wealth  of 
the  world  was  originally  purchased."  Here  Adam 
Smith  enforces  the  idea  that  it  is  labor  only  that  en- 
ters into  and  remains  fixed  in  any  and  all  products. 
The  money,  or  capital,  which  is  used,  is  but  an  agent 
to  facilitate  the  operations  in  the  production,  and  for 
purposes  of  distribution.  It  never  remains  there  fixed, 
nor  is  it  destroyed  nor  consumed,  but  is  always  re- 
turned with  a  portion  of  the  fruits  of  the  labor  which 
it  lias  facilitated,  and  the  distribution  which  it  has 
made.  Capital  may  very  properly  be  deemed  a  fertil- 
izer, which,  judiciously  used,  makes  labor  more  pro- 
ductive of  the  wealth  which  enriches  the  whole  of  so- 
ciety ;  but  without  the  labor  upon  which  to  work  it 
loses  its  value.  This  principle  is  most  remarkably 
illustrated  in  the  present  condition  of  things ;  labor 


THE  SOURCE  OF  PROSPERITY.  205 

is  but  little  employed  and  capital  has  largely  depre- 
ciated in  value. 

Therefore  the  real  bearings  of  this  question  of  labor 
are  not  confined  to  the  industrial  classes,  but  vitally 
affect  every  interest  and  class  of  society.  To  be  sure 
the  workingmen  appear  prominently  in  the  discussion, 
for  the  simple  reason  that  they  are  the  "  mudsills  "  of 
society,  and  can  not  be  eliminated,  unless  it  is  possi- 
ble to  build  without  a  foundation,  or  from  the  top 
downwards. 

u  No  society  can  surely  be  flourishing  and  happy,  of  which 
the  greater  part  of  the  members  are  poor  and  miserable.  It  is 
but  equity,  besides,  that  those  who  feed,  clothe,  and  lodge  the 
whole  body  of  the  people,  should  have  such  a  share  of  the  pro- 
duce of  their  own  labor  as  to  be  themselves  tolerably  well  fed, 
clothed,  and  lodged." 

"  The  liberal  reward  of  labor,  therefore,  as  it  is  the  necessary 
effect,  so  it  is  the  natural  symptom,  of  increasing  national 
wealth.  The  scanty  maintenance  of  the  laboring  poor,  on  the 
other  hand,  is  the  natural  symptom  that  things  are  at  a  stand, 
and  their  starving  condition  that  they  are  going  fast  back- 
wards. "  —  ADAM  SMITH,  Wealth  of  Nations. 

Now  the  question  is,  shall  the  welfare  of  society  be 
sacrificeji  to  the  gratification  of  blind,  ignorant  class 
prejudice  and  arrogance,  or  shall  we  be  guided  by  the 
simple  dictates  of  intelligent  self  interest,  which,  no 
doubt,  will  prove  the  wisest  philanthropy  ? 

If  we  adopt  intelligent  self  interest  for  our  guide, 
we  can  again  restore  prosperity  to  our  country  and 
people  as  quickly  as  it  came  upon  us  in  the  first  years 
of  the  war  of  the  rebellion,  and  that  in  the  midst  of 
profound  peace,  and  make  the  prosperity  permanent. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

THE  RELATIONS  OF  TRADE  TO  THE  EMPLOYMENTS  OP 
THE  PEOPLE. 

OF  the  absolute  dependence  of  all  trade  upon  the 
labor  and  consumption  of  the  masses  of  man- 
kind abundant  evidence  has  already  been  presented, 
and  it  might  be  extended  indefinitely.  But  labor,  in 
its  primary  state,  is  in  no  sense  dependent  on  trade. 
In  the  economy  of  life  they  are  not  equal.  It  has 
been  only  in  the  developments  of  civilization  that 
trade  has  been  brought  into  existence,  and  has  arro- 
gated to  itself  the  first  position  in  society,  seeking  in 
every  possible  manner  to  degrade  and  destroy  that 
which  gave  it  life,  and  has  ever  been  its  sole  support. 

There  are  a  few  additional  facts  and  considerations, 
in  the  present  exaltation  of  trade  and  degradation  of 
labor,  that  invite  examination. 

Notwithstanding  the  fact  that  mechanical  forces 
have  taken  the  place  of  muscle  in  all  production,  and 
man  has,  to  an  alarming  extent,  become  an  idler,  he 
still  remains  the  only  consumer,  and  without  his  con- 
sumption production  becomes  a  waste  of  force,  and 
trade  must  cease ;  for  it  is  between  production  and 
consumption  that  trade  finds  its  use  —  in  carrying 

236 


TRADE  AND  LABOR.  237 

from  one  to  the  other  for  the  sole  purpose  of  consump- 
tion. Machinery  now  doing  at  least  nine  tenths  of 
the  work  of  production,  gives  to  man  a  far  higher  im- 
portance, as  the  consumer  of  these  products,  than  he 
ever  hefore  attained.  It  is  now  solely  as  a  consumer 
that  he  has  become  indispensably  valuable.  Without 
consumers  all  production  would  be  absolutely  value- 
less, and  the  importance  of  trade  is  enhanced  in  exact 
ratio  with  the  increase  of  consumption.  These  are 
self  evident  facts  that  have  an  important  bearing  on 
social  relations,  and  are  of  vital  interest  to  trade. 

In  our  country  it  is  a  patent  fact  that  a  large  por- 
tion of  the  people  are  practically  nonconsumers.  As 
machinery  has  taken  their  place  in  production  their 
consumption  has  fallen  off  and  trade  has  become  les- 
sened and  demoralized.  Our  over  production  is  ap- 
parently enormous  ;  and  whilst  we  are  sending  our 
products  to  other  lands  4br  a  market,  we  have  millions 
at  home  suffering  and  perishing  for  want  of  the  very 
necessaries  of  life  that  we  are  sending  abroad  from  be- 
fore them.  This  large  exportation  is  a  notable  symp- 
tom and  constant  aggravation  of  the  fundamental 
disease  that  affects  society. 

It  is  also  well  to  see  at  what  cost  to  the  farmer,  and 
other  producers,  these  foreign  markets  are  found. 
Four  years  ago  Senator  Elaine,  from  his  place  on  the 
floor  of  the  Senate,  said  that  eighty  million  dollars 
per  annum  were  paid  to  foreign  ship  owners  for  ocean 
carriage  of  our  products  to  distant  markets.  But  that 
is  only  one  item  of  the  cost  paid  by  our  farmers  to  get 
their  corn  and  their  wheat,  their  oats,  pork,  beef,  cat- 
tle, butter  and  cheese,  cotton,  hay,  and  other  products 


238  LAND  AND  LABOR. 

to  foreign  consumers.  To  our  railroads,  our  canals, 
our  steamers  —  all  our  inland  transporters  from  the 
interior  to  the  seaboard  —  to  the  commission  mer_ 
chant,  the  insurer,  the  speculator,  the  gambler,  the 
multitudes  of  middlemen,  at  least  three  times  as  much 
is  paid  as  to  the  ocean  carriers,  by  the  American  pro- 
ducers, to  reach  foreign  markets.  In  the  interest  of 
foreign  trade  the  American  farmers  and  producers 
pay  a  direct  tax  upon  their  products  of  fully  four 
hundred  million  dollars  per  annum.  A  tax  greater 
than  the  whole  cost  of  our  national  government.  The 
American  farmer  receives  seventy  cents  a  bushel  for 
his  wheat,  and  the  English  consumer  pays  one  dollar 
and  fifty  cents  for  the  same,  the  middlemen  taking 
the  margin.  It  is  not  difficult  to  see  how  and  where 
the  great  railroad  kings,  with  the  whole  class  of  mid- 
dlemen, obtain  their  colossal  fortunes. 

These  facts  are  enough  to  indicate  the  tendencies 
of  present  development.  The  number  that  might  be 
added  is  inexhaustible.  To  achieve  these  results  all 
the  resources  and  devices  of  the  age  are  taxed  to  their 
fullest  extent.  Mechanical  forces*  and  labor  saving 
machinery,  wherever  possible,  are  made  to  take  the 
]tlace  of  muscle.  Man's  labor  has  been  saved,  that  is, 
dispensed  with,  to  such  an  extent  as  to  make  a  large 
portion  of  mankind  either  partially  or  wholly  idlers. 
Competition  between  the  idle  and  the  employed — be- 
t  \\i-en  producers,  carriers,  merchants,  and  all  engaged 
in  any  and  every  avocation  by  which  subsistence  is 
obtained  —  is  driven  to  the  verge  of  destruction. 

The  struggle  for  the  extremest  cheapness  has  be- 
come an  universal  mania.  A  superintendent  of  a 


TRADE  AND  LABOR,  239 

Boston  institution  for  the  shelter  of  poor  working 
girls,  says  the  insufficiency  of  wages  paid  to  girls  in 
that  city  is  most  disheartening.  Because  of  low  pay 
and  the  increased  cost  of  living,  more  young  women 
have  gone  astray  during  the  past  two  years  than  has 
been  known  to  be  the  case  in  a  great  many  years  be- 
fore. This  complaint  finds  an  echo  throughout  the 
country.  Degradation  and  crime  in  every  form,  of 
every  texture,  is  the  fabric  that  is  woven  of  competi- 
tion and  cheapness.  Poverty  is  everywhere,  with  a 
rapid  concentration  of  all  property,  all  the  sources  of 
subsistence,  of  comfort,  and  wealth  into  the  hands  of 
the  few.  Trade  is  in  a  chronic  state  of  demoralization. 
Our  annual  failures  are  numbered  by  thousands  ;  for 
the  last  ten  years  but  once  a  little  below  five  thou- 
sand, and  ranging  up  to  more  than  ten  thousand  per 
annum.  Society  and  all  its  interests  are  the  sport  of 
gamblers,  speculators,  and  monopolists. 

It  has  been  shown  how  these  evils  have  grown  upon 
us  as  the  people  have  been  forced  into  idleness  —  as 
their  labor  has  been  saved,  or  dispensed  with  — 
through  the  operation  of  the  mechanical  forces  that 
have  been  so  largely  developed  during  the  present 
century.  That,  as  they  have  become  idle,  poverty, 
helplessness,  and  demoralization  have  spread  in  every 
direction,  reaching  up  and  permeating  every  fibre  of 
trade  and  financial  development.  But  every  step 
that  has  been  taken  on  the  road  that  has  led  to  the 
present  condition  has  become  an  important  indicator 
of  both  cause  and  cure. 

The  first  thing  to  be  done  in  seeking  for  remedies 
to  cure  the  evils  that  have  been  pointed  out  is  to 


240  LAND  AND  LABOR. 

obey  the  primal  law  of  man's  existence.  In  violating 
it  we  have  brought  all  these  evils  upon  ourselves. 

When  God  thrust  Adam  from  the  garden  of  Eden 
he  declared  the  law  of  his  existence  to  be,  that  "in 
the  sweat  of  thy  face  shalt  thou  eat  bread  all  the  days 
of  thy  life."  When  Jehovah  with  his  finger  wrote 
upon  the  tablets  of  stone,  He  indelibly  inscribed,  "  six 
days  shalt  thou  labor,  and  upon  the  seventh  only  shalt 
thou  do  no  manner  of  work."  The  Divine  Master 
taught  his  disciples  the  same  lesson  when  he  bade 
them  to  pray  that  day  by  day  they  might  obtain  their 
daily  bread. 

Here  we  have  the  Divine  law,  that  it  is  only  by 
daily  labor  that  man  can  obtain  the  right  to  live,  and 
all  the  blessings  of  life.  This  is  the  whole  law  in  the 
case,  and  as  certain  in. its  effects  as  is  the  law  that 
your  finger  will  be  burned  if  you  hold  it  in  the  fire. 

It  goes  without  saying  that  all  sound  human  eco- 
nomic laws  are  and  must  be  in  perfect  harmony  with 
the  Divine,  and  that  their  violation  must  entail  disas- 
ter and  distress  just  so  long  and  in  exact  degree  with 
the  extent  of  the  violation.  But  in  place  of  obeying 
this  first  of  all  laws,  man  is  exerting  every  power  of 
which  he  is  possessed  to  violate  it,  to  devise  means 
whereby  the  masses  shall  not  work ;  shall  not  eat 
bread  in  the  sweat  of  the  face  ;  shall  not  labor  on  any 
day  ;  shall  not  day  by  day  receive  their  daily  bread. 
The  supreme  effort  has  been  to  force  the  greatest  pos- 
sible number  into  idleness  by  altogether  "saving" 
tlii-ir  labor,  with  the  resulting  demoralization  and  dis- 
tress that  is  sure  to  come  from  any  and  every  attempt 
to  nullify  or  oppose  fundamental  human  or  Divine 


TRADE  AND  LABOR.  241 

laws.  The  great  effort  which  has  enlisted  all  the  en- 
ergy and  force  of  man,  to  devise  means  whereby  ho 
might  be  released  from  work  —  by  which  his  labor 
might  be  saved  —  has  filled  the  world  with  woe. 
God's  law  has  been  vindicated,  and  the  folly  of  man's 
efforts  to  avoid  its  requirements  amply  demonstrated. 

Manifestly,  then,  our  only  remedy  for  these  great 
evils  and  tendencies  in  society  is  to  be  found  in 
strictly  and  literally  obeying  the  law.  « 

It  will  be  observed  that  there  is  no  requirement  that 
in  any  sense  forbids  man  to  lighten  his  labors.  The 
law  simply  requires  him  to  do  such  an  amount  of  daily 
labor  as  will  give  him  his  daily  bread.  In  the  dispen- 
sations of  Divine  Economy  there  can  be  no  doubt  of  a 
purpose  that  in  human  development  a  point  should  be 
reached  where  man  should  provide  for  all  his  physical 
requirements  by  that  use  of  the  forces  of  nature  that 
will  reduce  his  daily  labors  to  the  least  possible 
amount,  and  at  the  same  time  that  will  enable  him 
to  partake  most  abundantly  of  all  the  blessings  of 
life.  But  at  no  time  and  under  no  conditions  can  the 
universal  requirement  to  labor  be  avoided  without  dis- 
aster. It  is  by  universal  labor  only  that  permanent 
good  can  remain  with  any  portion.  Hence  means 
must  be  devised  whereby  the  law  of  man's  existence 
may  be  strictly  obeyed  —  the  right  and  opportunity 
of  all,  day  by  day,  to  earn  their  daily  bread  —  and  the 
greatest  good  be  obtained  for  all. 

To  do  this  effectively  requires  an  intelligent  under- 
standing of  man's  requirements  and  of  his  powers.  In 
the  first  place  is  presented  the  fact  that  all  require- 
ments for  production,  or  labor,  are  found  in  the  neces- 


242  LAND  AND  LABOR. 

sity  of  producing  sufficient  to  supply  society  with  food 
for  body  and  mind,  clothing,  and  shelter.  These  wants 
are  the  same  that  compelled  Adam  to  labor,  and  since 
the  beginning  of  time  a  new  want  has  not  been  dis- 
covered. All  the  changes  that  have  occurred  in  the 
long  ages  that  have  passed  since  man  has  been  upon 
the  earth,  have  been  in  the  form  and  manner  of  the 
supply. 

It  has  been  shown  that  within  the  present  century, 
since  the  time  of  our  immediate  fathers,  our  powers 
of  production,  in  the  supply  of  our  physical  wants, 
have  increased  more  than  ten  fold.  That  being  the 
case  itfollows  as  a  logical  conclusion  that  the  concrete 
man  should  now  be  in  the  enjoyment  often  fold  of  the 
comfort  and  ease  that  our  fathers  could  command. 
But  the  fact  is,  that  as  our  powers  have  developed 
idleness  has  increased,  and,  consequently,  poverty  and 
distress  have  multiplied.  Strikes  have  become  more 
frequent  and  upon  a  larger  scale,  and  their  failures 
more  significant.  Wages,  under  the  power  of  compe- 
tition, have  been  steadily  depressed,  and  the  consump- 
tion and  trade  of  the  masses  reduced. 

In  a  purely  commercial  view  we  are  ultimately 
thrown  back  upon  the  conclusion  that  it  is  in  the 
condition  of  the  masses  of  society  that  is  found  all 
the  elements  of  successful  trade  or  financial  disaster. 
That  it  is  in  the  consumption  of  the  masses  that  is 
found  the  demand  for  production  ;  and  that  to-day 
there  is  a  more  imperative  demand  that  every  man's 
power  of  consumption  should  be  cultivated  to  the  full- 
est extent  than  ever  before.  No  man  can  throw  into 
trade,  through  consumption,  a  greater  amount  than 


TRADE  AND  LABOR.  243 

his  income.  If  he  receives  but  one  dollar  a  day,  or 
three  hundred  dollars  a  year,  in  wages,  that  is  the 
exact  amount  of  his  contribution  to  trade.  Assume 
that  we  have  in  the  United  States  a  productive,  or 
laboring  population  of  ten  millions,  and  that  their 
income  is  three  hundred  dollars  a  year  each.  In  that 
case  the  contribution  to  trade  from  that  source  would 
be  three  billions.  But  suppose  that  their  income 
should  be  three  dollars  a  day,  or,  say,  one  thousand 
dollars  a  year.  In  that  case  their  contributions  to 
trade  would  be  not  less  than  ten  billions,  and  more 
than  three  times  greater  than  it  is  at  present.  The 
principle  here  stated  governs  the  case. 

In  the  days  of  our  fathers,  when  every  household 
became  the  focus  for  the  production  and  manufacture 
of  all  that  went  into  the  consumption  of  the  family  — 
the  food,  the  clothing,  and  the  shelter  — when  every- 
thing was  grown  and  manufactured  by  the  very  per- 
sons who  would  use  and  consume  them,  the  conditions 
of  trade  were  but  little  affected  by  the  consumption 
of  the  masses.  Then  the  farmer  had  but  little  use 
for  money  ;  buying  and  selling  formed  no  part  of  his 
methods  of  obtaining  a  subsistence.  He  grew  his 
grain  for  his  own  consumption,  had  it  converted  into 
flour  or  meal  at  the  neighboring  mill,  paying  toll  in 
kind  for  the  service.  He  grew  his  own  wool  and  flax, 
made  it  into  cloth  in  his  own  house  ;  then  into  gar- 
ments and  put  them  upon  his  person  and  wore  them. 
So  he  builded  his  own  dwelling,  made  his  own  tools 
of  every  kind,  and  used  them.  He  was  independent 
of  trade.  When  he  had  occasion  to  make  use  of  the 
services  of  the  village,  or  neighboring  blacksmith,  or 


244  LAND  AND  LABOR. 

carpenter,  or  shoemaker,  he  was  paid  in  the  products 
of  the  farm.  His  minister  and  his  doctor  were  also 
paid  in  the  same  way.  These  operations  pervaded,  as 
a  rule,  throughout  the  whole  country.  The  only  use 
that  the  farmer  had  for  money  was  to  pay  his  taxes, 
and  other  demands  of  government.  In  this  manner 
was  the  great  mass  of  the  business  of  the  country 
done,  causing  the  least  possible  amount  of  trade,  and 
in  no  sense  dependent  upon  trade,  as  we  now  under- 
stand it,  for  its  success. 

In  the  larger  towns  and  cities  it  was  but  little  dif- 
ferent, for  the  methods  of  barter  and  exchange,  uni- 
versal in  the  rural  districts,  were  largely  used  in  the 
greatest  centers  of  population.  But  whatever  trade 
there  was,  whatever  use  and  demand  existed  for 
money,  was  confined  almost  wholly  to  the  cities. 
There  were  the  centers  of  governmental  operations, 
but  by  no  means  were  they  the  centers  of  production, 
manufacture,  and  consumption.  Those  operations 
were  distributed  throughout  the  country,  among  the 
masses  of  the  rural  districts,  and  were  carried  on  al- 
most wholly  independent  of  trade  and  money.  It  was 
there  that  the  great  body  of  the  population  of  the 
country  was  then  fixed  ;  and  it  was  there  that  much 
the  greater  part  of  the  industries  of  the  country  were 
exercised.  At  that  time  the  cities,  in  weight  of  pop- 
ulation and  amount  of  productive  manufacture,  were 
quite  insignificant  as  compared  with  that  in  the  agri- 
cultural and  rural  districts. 

But  now,  under  the  changed  conditions  of  produc- 
tion and  manufacture,  trade  and  commerce  of  every 
nature  are,  in  the  fullest  sense,  altogether  dependent 


TRADE  AND  LABOR.  245 

upon  the  conditions  and  consumption  of  the  masses 
of  the  people,  because  no  one  manufactures  for  him- 
self solely,  but  every  one,  through  trade,  produces  for 
the  consumption  of  society  and  for  the  benefit  of  all. 

Under  these  conditions  the  trader  is  as  necessary  to 
the  welfare  and  prosperity  of  society  as  is  the  farmer 
or  manufacturer.  Through  him  must  the  exchanges 
be  made  that  will  place  the  varied  products  of  in- 
dustry within  the  reach  of  all.  But  the  speculator, 
the  gambler,  the  maker  of  "  corners,"  still  remain  the 
curses  of  trade  and  leeches  of  society. 

At  the  present  time  the  farmer  is  as  much  depen- 
dent upon  the  operations  of  trade,  for  subsistence,  as 
is  the  merchant  himself.  The  farmer  now  sells  his 
grain  to  one  and  buys  his  flour  and  meal  of  another. 
He  sells  his  wool,  and  flax,  and  cotton,  at  one  time  ; 
at  another  he  buys  his  cloth,  and  often  his  ready  made 
clothing.  He  sells  his  hogs  and  buys  his  pork  ;  his 
cattle  and  buys  his  beef,  his  shoes,  his  plows,  his  tools 
of  every  nature,  and  pays  cash  for  the  services  of  the 
blacksmith  and  carpenter.  Of  all  the  operations  that 
are  now  resorted  to,  to  supply  the  wants  of  man,  there 
are  few  that  do  not  enter  into  trade  for  their  consum- 
mation. 

The  man  who  attempts  to  understand  the  great 
changes  that  have  taken  place  in  the  social  condition 
of  the  people,  within  the  memory  of  many  now  living, 
and  does  not  take  these  facts  into  consideration,  nor 
give  them  their  due  weight,  is  sure  to  fall  into  griev- 
ous errors,  and  becomes  an  unsafe  counsellor.  Now, 
when  all  production  goes  into  the  channels  of  trade, 
all  the  profits  of  the  business  of  the  merchant  or 


246  LAND  AND  LABOR. 

trader,  and  of  the  transporter,  is  found,  as  it  ever  has 
been,  between  the  producer  and  consumer,  and  is  in 
exact  ratio  with  the  amount  of  the  consumption,  the 
producers  themselves  becoming  the  greatest  consum- 
ers. The  greater  the  amount  that  the  producers  are 
enabled  to  consume  of  their  own  products,  the  larger 
the  bulk  of  trade,  and  the  greater  the  profits.  It  is 
in  the  tolling  of  the  products  as  they  pass  through 
the  various  hands  between  the  producers  and  the  con- 
sumers that  is  found  the  contributions  that  sustain  all 
the  classes  of  society  that  are  not  immediately  engaged 
in  productive  pursuits,  and  serves  to  distribute  the 
benefits  of  abundant  production  among  all.  As  a 
consequence  it  follows  that  the  greater  the  amount 
that  is  brought  into  consumption,  the  more  liberal 
will  be  every  class  of  contribution,  and  the  greater  the 
amount  of  comfort  derived  from  their  own  products  by 
the  immediate  producers  themselves. 

Therefore  the  greatest  want  of  trade,  as  well  as  of 
society,  is  the  adoption  of  a  means  that  will  bring  all 
the  now  idle,  and  the  partially  employed,  into  con- 
stant employment,  and  thus  not  only  make  them 
active  producers,  but  consumers  also.  The  labor 
required  to  supply  the  wants  of  society  must  be  dis- 
tributed among  all  its  members,  that  all  may  partake 
of  its  blessings ;  and  the  great  advances  that  have 
been  made  in  the  use  of  mechanical  forces  in  produc- 
tion must  be  directed  to  lessening  the  toils  of  the 
workingman,  and  the  increase  of  his  comfort.  In  this 
way  the  Divine  purpose  which  has  enabled  man  to 
chain  the  lightnings  to  his  car,  and  to  compel  the 
coal  and  the  iron  of  the  earth's  crust,  and  the  vapors 


TRADE  AND  LABOR.  247 

of  its  waters  to  do  his  bidding,  and  relieve  his  toil, 
will  have  been  accomplished,  and  man  will  then  have 
entered  upon  his  true  mission  in  obeying  the  com- 
mands of  God,  and  in  working  upon  those  economic 
principles  that  are  sure  to  contribute  to  his  greatest 
welfare. 

Having  shown  the  idleness  among  our  people,  and 
the  absolute  necessity  for  all  to  be  employed,  that 
trade  may  prosper,  it  becomes  a  matter  for  serious 
consideration  to  determine  what  measures  may  be 
adopted  to  secure  that  end.  Inasmuch  as  the  only 
requirement  that  there  can  be  for  labor  lies  in  the 
demand  for  reproduction  that  is  created  by  the  con- 
sumption of  society,  it  follows  that  the  labor  required 
for  the  necessary  reproduction  must  be  distributed  as 
widely  and  as  generally  as  it  is  hoped  may  be  the  con- 
sumption. More  than  this,  there  stands  the  primal 
law  of  man's  existence,  his  right  and  duty  to  labor, 
that  he  may  eat  and  live,  not  as  a  beggar  or  criminal, 
but  as  a  valuable  member  of  the  community,  and  in 
response  to  the  requirements  of  society,  which  stands 
largely  responsible  for  all  its  members. 

As  the  immediate  object  to  be  attained  is  the  dis- 
tribution among  all  of  the  labor  that  is  now  performed 
by  a  portion  only  of  the  masses  of  society,  we  are  hap- 
pily helped  in  the  suggestion  made  by  the  manufac- 
turers in  Massachusetts  in  response  to  inquiries  from 
its  bureau  of  labor,  viz.,  that  the  hours  of  labor  be 
reduced  to  six  a  day,  in  order  that  the  mills  may  be 
run  twelve  hours  a  day,  by  two  gangs  of  hands.  The 
adoption  of  this  suggestion  will  meet  the  whole  re- 
quirement, and  a  little  examination  will  show  that 


248  LAND  AND  LABOR. 

those  manufacturers  would  build  better  than  they 
knew. 

Let  that  principle  be  applied  in  all  pursuits,  and 
the  result  would  be  that  at  once  there  would  be 
double  the  number  of  persons  earning  wages  that 
there  is  now.  For  it  would  require  just  twice  the 
number,  working  six  hours  a  day,  to  supply  the 
present  demands  of  society  than  it  does  now  when 
working  twelve.  There  being  twice  the  number  earn- 
ing wages,  there  would  be  double  the  number  with 
incomes  to  invest  in  products  for  consumption.  It  is 
certain  that  wages  would  be  increased,  because  the 
competition  among  workmen  for  employment  would 
be  destroyed,  and  instead  there  would  at  once  be  a 
competition  among  employers  for  workmen,  compel- 
ling an  increase  in  wages.  Prices  of  commodities 
would  also  rise,  and  everything  would  advance  in 
unison. 

The  great  result  would  be  that  the  doubling  of  the 
number  of  wage  earning  working  men  and  women 
would  at  least  double  the  number  of  consumers ; 
whilst  the  advance  in  wages  would  have  the  effect  of 
more  than  doubling  the  volume  of  trade  and  trans- 
portation and  the  profits  arising  therefrom. 

We  would  no  longer  be  compelled  to  seek  foreign 
markets  for  our  products,  because  our  increased  home 
consumption  would  require  all  that  could  be  produced. 
The  empty  stomachs  would  be  filled  ;  the  half  naked 
backs  would  be  warmly  clothed ;  the  barren,  naked, 
cheerless  dwellings,  through  the  operations  of  trade, 
would  be  comfortably  furnished  ;  the  naked  floors 
would  be  covered  ;  the  wide  staring  windows  would 


TRADE  AND  LABOR.  249 

be  curtained  ;  the  fires  of  warmth  and  comfort  would 
be  kindled,  and  cheerful  homes  would  take  the  place 
of  what  are  now  nothing  less  than  dens  of  misery.  In 
all  these  operations  trade  would  be  the  active  agent, 
reaping  its  rich  rewards  in  place  of  the  demoralization 
and  disaster  which  now  waits  upon  it  in  every  direc- 
tion. Thus  would  be  repeated  the  economic  opera- 
tions of  the  war  of  the  rebellion,  divested  of  its  horri- 
ble carnage  of  disease  and  death,  and  without  the 
intervention  of  government  as  an  employer,  and  the 
entailing  of  a  mountain  of  debt. 

But  all  efforts  to  achieve  these  great  blessings 
would  be  altogether  thrown  away  so  long  as  our  doors 
remain  open,  inviting  competition  from  the  outside 
world.  The  breaking  down  of  the  crushing  competi- 
tion among  ourselves  would  be  of  no  avail,  if  we  per- 
mit it  to  come  in  from  abroad.  This  is  so  self  evident 
that  it  requires  no  more  than  the  statement.  Our 
first  necessity  is  to  so  protect  our  own  industries  as  to 
stimulate  the  production  at  home,  on  our  own  soil,  of 
everything  required  to  supply  our  own  wants,  in  every 
case  where  the  conditions  of  soil  and  climate  are  suit- 
able. For  instance,  our  yearly  importations  of  sugar 
and  molasses  amount  to  a  round  one  hundred  million 
dollars,  while  we  have  soil  and  climate  excellently 
adapted  to  its  production  in  unlimited  quantities. 
But  the  slaves  of  Cuba  and  the  East  Indies,  and  the 
coolies  of  the  Sandwich  Islands,  can  produce  it  at  less 
cost  to  their  masters  than  can  our  people  and  live. 
Thus  the  competition  in  trade,  unrestricted,  forces  the 
introduction  of  the  slave  and  coolie  grown  article,  re- 
gardless of  consequences  to  our  own  people. 


250  LAND  AND  LABOR. 

The  reply  will  be,  that  by  the  operation  our  people 
get  their  sugar  and  molasses  cheaper. 

Cheap  sugar  and  molasses  are  not  the  vital  wants 
of  society ;  nor  is  cheapness  the  great  want  in  any 
other  thing.  The  primal  requirement  of  the  masses 
is  that  employment  which  is  to  be  found  only  in  the 
liberal  supplying  of  their  own  necessities  and  comforts. 
The  strife  for  cheapness  has  proved  the  national  curse. 
Cheapness  and  poverty  are  inseparable,  and  are  al- 
ways found  associated  with  idleness  and  competition. 
But  constant  employment,  liberal  compensation,  and 
comfort,  are  the  blessed  trinity  of  true  social  and  in- 
dustrial economy. 

As  with  sugar  and  molasses  so  with  iron,  with  tex- 
tiles, and  many  other  things. 

But  a  loud  cry  will  go  up  that  foreign  commerce 
will  be  destroyed. 

Well,  what  would  be  the  harm  done  if  it  were  de- 
stroyed ?  Has  it  ever  proved  an  unmixed  blessing  to 
us  ?  It  certainly  is  not  the  chief  want  of  man,  and 
it  would  not  be  difficult  to  show  that  it  has  been  far 
more  of  a  curse  than  a  blessing.  But  it  would  not 
destroy  commerce  ;  it  would  simply  change  its  char- 
acter. Whilst  for  every  dollar  lost  to  foreign  com- 
merce, there  would  be  ten  dollars  added  to  home 
trade.  This  point  has  been  sufficiently  discussed  in 
another  chapter. 

Both  social  and  national  prosperity  is  to  be  found 
only  in  the  development  of  our  own  industries,  and 
the  employment  of  our  own  people.  This  can  be  best 
done  by  the  full  and  complete  adoption  of  all  of  the 
most  effective  and  perfect  devices  for  the  use  of  me- 


TRADE  AND  LABOR.  251 

chanical  forces  and  machinery.  It  is  by  the  action  of 
those  forces  and  the  powers  of  nature,  where  they  can 
be  controlled,  that  the  greatest  abundance  of  all  that 
enters  into  the  use  and  consumption  of  man  may  be 
produced  with  the  least  amount  of  physical  toil.  At 
the  same  time  a  perfection  of  product  is  achieved,  in 
many  things,  that  was  not  before  attainable. 

Hence,  the  development  of  mills,  and  factories,  and 
workshops,  completely  furnished  with  the  most  per- 
fect appliances  of  the  age,  are  in  the  right  direction. 
The  fault  has  been,  heretofore,  in  the  abuse  of  their 
use.  So  with  agricultural  implements.  They  are  all 
required  in  the  full  development  of  that  industry. 
Those  great  machines  that  have  been  heretofore  de- 
scribed as  being  in  use  on  the  bonanza  farms,  are  by 
no  means  unavailable  to  the  small  farmer.  When 
they  shall  have  discovered  that  line  fences  are  not 
necessary,  but  that  their  £elds  may  be  best  cultivated 
when  the  greatest  facility  for  passage  from  one  farm 
to  another  is  attained,  and  neighbors  hold  and  culti- 
vate their  lands  like  friends  rather  than  enemies,  they 
will  also  learn  that  the  great  agricultural  implements 
may  be  held  in  partnership,  and  be  effectively  worked 
by  simple  systems  of  cooperation. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

SIX  HOUR  LAW  AND   REASONS  FOR  ITS  ENACTMENT. 

"TV  /TANIFESTLY  a  measure  must  be  devised  and 
aV-L  adopted  by  which  all  shall  share  in  the  em- 
ployments which  give  to  society  its  sustenance  and 
comfort.  All  having  an  equal  and  inalienable  right 
to  the  labor  by  which  the  individual  and  society  is 
sustained,  the  exercise  of  that  right  must  be  guaran- 
teed and  protected.  This  can  be  effectively  done  only 
by  the  organized  action  of  society,  in  its  national  ca- 
pacity—  by  law.  Centuries,  ages  of  individual  ac- 
tion, uncontrolled  by  any  action  or  rule  of  society  that 
protected  the  weak  from  the  natural  aggressions  of 
the  strong,  have  resulted  in  the  conditions  that  are 
now  sweeping  us  so  rapidly  to  destruction.  Is  it  not 
time  that  a  change  should  be  made  ? 

Without  law,  the  concurrent  action  of  ninety-nine 
in  every  hundred  for  relief,  would  amount  to  nothing 
against  the  "  competition  "  of  the  one  hundredth  who 
should  determine  to  follow  his  own  selfish  instincts  in 
the  way  of  what  is  called,  in  the  slang  of  the  period, 
"  business."  It  is  only  in  the  passage,  by  Congress,  of 
an  Act,  in  character  similar  to  the  following,  that  real 
relief  and  improvement  can  be  found. 

252 


A  SIX  HOUR  LAW.  253 

tf  ACT  to  bring  all  the  idle  and  the  partially  em- 
ployed into  constant  work. 

Whereas,  Idleness  being  the  sum  of  all  social  evils, 
directly  operating  to  destroy  prosperity  and  create 
poverty,  with  all  its  attending  miseries  and  crimes,  it 
is  the  highest  duty  of  organized  society  to  use  all 
necessary  means  to  cause  its  removal,  that  industry 
and  its  comfortable  fruits  may  be  enjoyed  by  all ; 
therefore, 

Be  it  enacted  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives of  the  united  States  of  America,  in  Con- 
gress assembled,  That  six  hours  shall  constitute  and 
be  deemed  a  legal  day  for  work. 

SEC.  2.  That  no  action  in  any  court  of  law,  for 
compensation  for  work  or  labor  done  and  performed, 
shall  be  recoverable  where  it  is  legally  shown  that  any 
part  of  such  account  or  demand  is  for  work  in  excess 
of  six  hours  a  day ;  or  where  it  is  legally  shown  that 
the  complainant  did,  at  the  time  when,  and  for  the 
party  complained  of,  work  in  excess  of  six  hours  a  day. 

SEC.  3.  Any  incorporated  company  or  association, 
doing  business  under  operation  of  law,  being  legally 
convicted  upon  complaint  of  any  person  having  knowl- 
edge of  the  offense,  of  working  any  of  its  employes  for 
more  than  six  hours  in  any  one  day,  shall,  for  the  first 
offense,  forfeit  and  pay  the  sum  of  five  hundred  dol- 
lars, one  half  of  the  fine  recovered  to  be  paid  to  the 
complainant,  and  the  other  half  to  the  order  of  the 
court ;  and  for  the  second  offense  shall  pay  a  fine  of 
one  thousand  dollars  and  forfeit  its  charter. 

SEC.  4.  Every  person  and  company,  not  incorpo- 
rated, that  shall,  either  as  principal  or  agent,  employ 
any  person  or  persons  for  more  than  six  hours  in  any 
one  day,  shall,  upon  conviction  thereof,  for  each  and 
every  offense,  forfeit  and  pay  a  fine  equal  to  double 
the  amount  of  wages  made  payable,  and  the  costs  of 
court ;  one  half  of  all  fines  recovered  to  be  paid  to  the 


254  LAND  AND  LABOR. 

complainant,  and  the  other  half  to  the  order  of  the 
court.  Provided  always,  That  in  all  cases  requiring 
extraordinary  work  in  the  protection  of  life  or  proper- 
ty, and  in  cases  of  house  and  body  servants,  the  pro- 
visions and  penalties  of  this  Act  shall  not  apply. 

SEC.  5.  The  provisions  of  this  Act  shall  apply  only 
to  those  persons  who  are  voluntary  laborers  or  em- 
ployes, either  upon  time  or  piece  work.  All  persons 
who  are  forced  to  labor  or  work  in  pursuance  of  a  sen- 
tence of  any  court,  for  crime  or  offense  against  the  law, 
shall  do  so  for  at  least  ten  hours  on  each  and  every 
working  day. 

SEC.  6.  The  provisions  of  this  Act  shall  go  into 
effect  and  be  in  force  from  and  after  six  months  from 
the  date  of  its  passage  and  approval  by  the  President. 

In  connection  with  the  above  law  a  National  Bu- 
reau of  Labor  should  be  created,  the  duties  of  which 
shall  be  the  collection,  from  all  parts  of  the  country, 
of  all  the  data  necessary  to  guide  the  government  in 
any  future  action,  and  especially  for  the  following 
purposes,  viz. :  — 

1st.  That  when,  upon  a  careful  and  complete  ex- 
amination, in  all  parts  of  the  country,  it  shall  appear 
that  all  who  are  dependent  upon  their  work  or  labor 
for  subsistence  are  fully  employed,  and  that  there  is 
not  produced  a  sufficiency  of  the  necessaries  and  com- 
forts of  life  to  meet  the  demands  for  home  consump- 
tion, the  hours  of  labor  may  be  so  lengthened,  in  all 
parts  of  the  country,  as  to  enable  the  required  pro- 
duction to  be  made. 

2nd.  That  when  the  examination  shall  show  that 
all  the  demands  of  society,  in  home  consumption,  are 
fully  met,  and  that  any  considerable  number,  needing 
work,  are  wholly  idle,  or  but  partially  employed, 


A  SIX  HOUR  LAW.  255 

causing  competition  that  reduces  wages,  or  in  any 
other  manner  injuriously  affects  labor,  the  hours  of 
work,  throughout  the  country,  may  be  so  shortened  as 
to  bring  all  into  regular  and  constant  employment. 

In  the  economy  of  life  the  necessity  to  labor  grows 
out  of  the  fact  that  man  must  work  that  he  may  live. 
Though  nature,  in  its  munificence,  provides  in  the 
greatest  fulness  for  the  sustenance  of  all  brute  animal 
life,  man  is  alone  required  to  provide  for  himself.  The 
earth  is  given  to  him  that  he  may  subdue  it.  It  pro- 
duces abundantly  of  grass,  weeds,  thorns,  thistles,  and 
wild  fruits,  well  adapted  to  furnish  food  for  the  lower 
animals,  but  not  for  man.  He  must  subdue  the  weeds, 
extirpate  the  thorns  and  the  thistles  that  he  may  sow 
the  seed  and  grow  the  grain  that  gives  him  bread. 

Nature,  from  the  storehouse  of  its  providence,  fitly 
and  abundantly  clothes  all  animal  life,  except  man, 
with  the  raiment  adapted  to  its  requirements,  locali- 
ties, and  seasons.  But  man  is  born  into  the  world 
naked,  and  so  remains  if  he  does  not  clothe  himself. 
He  must  grow  or  gather  the  wool,  the  flax,  the  grass, 
the  cotton,  the  silk,  the  bark,  the  skins,  the  furs,  the 
feathers,  and  whatever  else  may  be  used,  and  work 
and  fashion  the  whole  into  material  fit  for  garments, 
and  make  the  same  into  the  clothing  that  shall  cover 
his  body. 

The  Divine  Master  declared  that  the  foxes  have 
holes,  and  the  birds  have  nests,  but  that  the  Son  of 
Man  hath  not  where  to  lay  His  head.  A  literal  truth 
that  describes  the  condition  of  the  whole  human  fam- 
ily, except  where  the  members  thereof,  through  the 


256  LAND  AND  LABOR. 

operation  of  labor,  have  built  themselves  dwellings. 
For  this  the  earth  is  mined  and  quarried,  the  forests 
are  felled  and  fashioned  into  lumber,  the  soil  is  formed 
into  bricks,  the  natural  ores  are  converted  into  metals 
and  wrought  into  building  material  and  tools,  and 
dwellings  are  constructed  by  and  through  the  opera- 
tion of  labor,  and  by  that  alone.  By  it  man  is  fed ; 
by  it  he  is  clothed  ;  and  by  it  he  is  housed.  By  labor 
he  is  enriched  with  all  the  necessaries,  comforts,  and 
luxuries  of  life  ;  but  without  labor  the  condition  of 
man  becomes  worse  than  that  of  the  brute. 

In  these  conditions  lies  the  only  necessity  that  exists 
for  man  to  work.  They  are  the  conditions  under  which 
man  has  existed  from  the  very  first,  and  they  are  the 
same  that  will  continue  to  the  end.  There  is  no 
escaping  the  Divine  fiat,  that  "  In  the  sweat  of  thy 
face  shalt  thou  eat  bread  till  thou  return  unto  the 
ground."  Hence  we  see  the  imperative  necessity  that 
exists  for  a  way  to  be  devised  by  which  all  shall  work 
that  all  may  live. 

It  has  been  shown  that,  in  our  country,  whilst  an 
abundance  is  produced  for  the  comfort  of  the  whole 
people,  it  is  done  by  the  labor  of  a  portion  only,  with 
the  resulting  evils  of  great  idleness  and  consequent 
distress,  whilst  large  amounts  of  the  general  product 
are  sent  out  of  the  country  to  be  consumed  abroad. 
And  it  has  also  been  shown  that  the  only  demand 
that  can  possibly  exist  for  work  is  in  the  supply  of 
our  own  society  with  the  three  great  necessaries  of 
life,  and  its  comforts  and  luxuries. 

To  a  great  extent  these  are  fixed  factors.  Our  sta- 
tisticians will  tell  you,  approximately,  the  amount  of 


A  SIX  HOUR  LAW.  257 

food  required  for  a  given  population  ;  the  number  of 
dwellings  when  the  number  of  families  is  known  ;  and 
the  amount  of  clothing,  and  the  labor  required  to  pro- 
duce these  things.  They  all  come  within  the  realm 
of  calculation.  It  is  labor  that  provides  all  the  neces- 
saries, comforts,  and  luxuries  of  life,  and  data  may  bo 
collected  to  estimate  the  amount  that  will  be  required 
of  each  individual  to  provide  for  all  these  requirements 
when  a  proper  system  comes  into  operation,  and  the 
study  of  labor  with  its  relations  to  society  takes  the 
place  its  importance  demands.  But  now  we  have  to 
do  with  things  as  they  are,  and  leave  speculations  to 
be  worked  out  by  those  who  may  follow. 

At  present  we  find  that  fully  one  half  of  our  pro- 
ductive power  is  practically  unemployed,  and  that 
distress  is  universally  prevalent.  The  distress  among 
the  employed  being  only  a  little  less  than  it  is  among 
the  idle.  We  also  find  that  one  of  the  most  marked 
characteristics  of  the  present  state  is  a  crushing,  kill- 
ing competition  among  all  producers,  professions, 
trades,  and  traders,  to  obtain  business  and  the  means 
of  living,  by  cheaper  production,  less  compensation, 
less  wages,  and  smaller  profits,  until  the  point  is 
reached  that  threatens  universal  disaster,  having  long 
passed  the  point  of  general  distress. 

The  immediate  and  dominant  necessity  is  to  break 
down  this  competition.  The  only  way  in  which  this 
can  be  done  is  to  remove  the  cause.  The  cause  is 
found  in  the  fact  that  a  large  portion  of  the  people 
are  absolutely  without  the  means  of  subsistence,  and 
to  get  that  they  are  compelled  to  compete  with  and 
underwork  their  fellows.  The  movement  that  com- 


258  LAND  AND  LABOR. 

menced  at  the  foundation  of  society  widens  and  rises 
until  all  classes  are  involved,  and  the  condition  is 
reached  under  which  we  are  suffering. 

Therefore  we  are  compelled,  first,  to  ascertain  how 
this  competition  at  the  foundation  of  society,  among 
the  workers  and  laborers,  from  the  street  scavenger 
upwards,  may  be  removed.  This  reduces  the  matter 
to  a  very  simple  proposition,  easily  understood,  and  a 
result  readily  effected.  Where  there  is  but  a  single 
loaf,  with  two  struggling  for  it,  and  equally  necessi- 
tous, the  struggle  may  be  at  once  ended,  and  both 
quieted,  by  a  division  of  it  between  them.  Especially 
so  when  the  divided  loaf  would  give  each  an  abun- 
dance. So  with  the  labor  loaf;  there  is  abundance 
for  all.  Divide  it ;  it  will  satisfy  all. 

The  means  for  this  division  are  as  simple  as  the 
proposition  itself.  Those  who  labor  now  do  so  for 
from  ten  to  twelve  hours  a  day  throughout  the  coun- 
try. There  are,  certainly,  cases  and  classes  where  the 
time  of  labor  is  as  much  as  fifteen  and  even  eighteen 
hours  a  day  ;  and  others  that  go  as  low  as  eight  or  six 
hours.  But  the  mean  is  not  far  from  eleven  hours. 
An  equal  division  of  this  time  would  be  five  and  one 
half  hours  a  day.  But  the  great  manufacturers  of 
Massachusetts,  through  their  Bureau  of  Statistics  of 
Labor,  propose  a  reduction  of  the  hours  of  labor  to 
six,  provided  it  is  a  national  movement.  Following 
are  three  of  the  propositions,  all  from  the  great  textile 
interest.  See  Tenth  Annual  Keport,  for  1879. 

(  e  )  "  You  can  say  we  shall  not  work  certain  persons  more 
than  so  many  hours  per  day  or  week,  but  if  we  can  dispose  of 
our  goods  at  a  profit,  and  of  all  we  can  make,  nothing  can 


A   SIX  HOUR  LAW.  259 

hinder  us  from  employing  two  sets  of  hands,  and  thus,  in  our 
judgment,  no  curtailing  of  production  can  be  brought  about  by 
simply  reducing  hours  of  labor,  while  there  is  no  power  to  stop 
machinery."  —  Page  157. 

(/)  "Nor  would  it  be  impracticable  to  reduce  the  time  to 
six  hours,  and  this  reduction  would  be  preferable  ;  for  we  could 
then  run  our  mills  eleven  or  twelve  hours  per  day  by  employing 
two  sets  of  operatives."  —  Page  158. 

( ra )  "If  the  agitation  is  kept  up  for  still  shorter  hours,  I 
would  favor  it,  and  place  it  at  six  hours  per  day.  We  could 
then  work  two  gangs  per  day,  and  get  something  like  a  fair 
production  from  machinery."  —  Page  162. 

The  Chief  of  the  Bureau,  Hon.  Carroll  D.  Dwight, 
comments  as  follows  :  — 

"  In  addition  to  written  statements,  we  have  conversed  with  a 
large  number  of  proprietors ;  and,  while  for  the  most  part  they 
are  willing  to  adhere  to  the  requirements  of  the  law  of  1874, 
they  strenuously  oppose  any  further  reduction  unless  to  six 
hours  per  day ;  and  thus  they  would  practically  demonstrate 
the  wisdom  or  unwisdom  of  the  theory  that  the  true  solution 
for  over  production  lies  in  less  hours  of  labor.  We  have  no 
faith  in  that  theory  as  a  solution  for  over  production;  for, 
under  a  six  hour  rule,  two  sets  of  hands  would  be  employed. 
Lessened  hours  of  labor  will  come,  must  come,  as  the  absolute 
outgrowth  of  the  effects  of  machinery ;  and,  could  the  regula- 
tion for  the  legal  reduction  be  national,  our  manufacturers 
would  not  object."  —  Page  163. 

It  will  be  observed  that  the  manufacturers,  as  also 
the  Chief  of  the  Bureau,  look  at  the  proposition  for  a 
reduction  of  the  hours  of  labor  as  affecting  solely  the 
question  of  over  production.  But  the  real  fact  is,  the 
matter  does  not  touch  the  question  of  over  produc- 
tion, which  really  does  not  exist,  but  rather  of  under 


260  LAND  AND  LABOR. 

home  consumption  ;  and  even  that  but  incidentally  ; 
neither  of  which  being  assigned  a  place  among  the 
reasons  for  a  reduction  to  six  hours. 

The  one  great  and  controlling  reason  for  shortening 
the  hours  of  labor  is,  that  the  number  of  persons  who 
are  now  employed  may  be  doubled,  either  by  working 
two  sets  of  hands  or  by  the  building  of  new  mills  ;  the 
additional  number  who  are  given  employment  to  be 
taken  out  of  the  ranks  of  those  who  are  now  idle,  or 
but  partially  employed,  tfcat  double  the  number  of 
workmen  and  women  may  enter  into  the  receipt  of 
wages,  and  thus  increase  the  number  of  consumers, 
the  amount  of  consumption,  and  demand  for  addi- 
tional production.  These  are  the  things  sought  for. 
But  more  of  this  farther  on,  first  taking  up  some  other 
matters. 

Therefore  the  next  proposition  to  consider  is  that 
of  the  necessity  of  national  action.  Upon  this  point 
the  following  testimony  is  also  taken  from  the  Tenth 
Annual  Report,  1879.  A  furniture  manufacturer,  in 
answer  to  the  circular  of  inquiries  from  the  Chief  of 
the  Bureau,  touching  the  hours  of  labor,  writes :  - 

"  The  reduction  of  the  hours  of  labor,  in  our  branch  of  indus- 
try, would  meet  our  approval  provided  the  reduction  should  at 
the  same  time  extend  throughout  the  country.  "We  think  it 
would  be  for  the  interest  of  all,  both  employer  and  employe*, 
inasmuch  as  it  would  give  employment  to  a  larger  number  to 
do  the  same  work,  and,  by  so  doing,  give  a  greater  circulation 
to  capital.  The  goods  would  cost  more  to  make ;  but  the  em- 
ploye*, being  at  work,  would  spend  his  wages  freely,  as  is  the 
case  wjth  most  laboring  men,  and,  by  this  cause  business  to  re- 
vive. Our  wish  is  to  reduce  the  hours  of  labor,  but  not  in  this 
State  alone,  for,  in  so  doing  it  would  give  the  manufacturers  in 


A   SIX  HOUR  LAW.  261 

other  States  the  advantage  of  having  their  goods  cost  less,  and 
thus  be  able  to  undersell  us."  —  Page  152. 

A  paper  manufacturer  says  :  — 

( a )  "If  ten  or  more  hours  is  the  legal  day's  work  in  our 
neighboring  States,  Massachusetts  should  not  fix  a  less  num- 
ber."—Page  153. 

A  manufacturer  of  rubber  goods  writes :  — 

(a)  "If  Massachusetts  is  to  compete  successfully  with  other 
States  and  foreign  countries  in  the  manufacture  of  various  fab- 
rics, restrictions  upon  the  hours  of  daily  labor  must  all  be  re- 
moved, till  all  other  States  and  countries  adopt  the  same.''  — 
Page  154. 

A  producer  of  straw  goods  replies  :  — 

(  a )  "  A  reduction  in  the  hours  of  labor  in  our  business  would 
be  decidedly  against  us,  as  the  competition  would  be  large 
against  us  from  other  States."  —  Page  155. 

The  statements  of  eight  textile  manufacturers  are 
as  follows :  — 

(6)  "Unless  we  are  allowed  to  run  our  machinery  the  same 
number  of  hours  per  day  as  manufacturers  in  other  States,  I  do 
not  see  how  it  will  be  possible  for  us  to  compete  with  them.  .  . 
...  If  the  hours  of  labor  in  this  State  are  reduced  still  lower 
than  in  other  States,  it  must  compel  manufacturers  to  reduce 
wages,  run  at  a  loss,  or  to  shut  down."  —  Page  156. 

( c )  "  Manufacturers  in  this  State  can  not  pay  higher  wages 
for  the  hours  of  actual  work  than  are  paid  by  their  competitors 
in  other  States ;  and  a  reduction  of  hours,  at  the  same  wages 
per  hour,  would  increase  the  cost  of  goods."  —  Page  157. 

(d)  "Such  a  reduction  would  tend  to  throw  the  develop- 
ment of  our  industry  into  other  States,  which  are  now  more  fa- 
vorably situated  than  we  are,  both  by  location  and  legal  enact- 
ments for  its  operation."  —  Page  157. 


262  LAND  AND  LABOR. 

(  e  )  "  Taking  the  interest  as  a  whole  in  the  United  States,  it 
would  appear  that  if  a  general  law  could  be  made  to  extend  to 
all  the  States,  affecting  all  alike,  reducing  the  hours  of  daily 
labor,  such  general  interests  would,  in  our  opinion,  thereby  be 

promoted "We  believe  shorter  hours  of  labor  would 

be  better  for  the  physical  well  being  of  the  operatives,  and  we 
shall  be  glad  to  see  such  a  limitation  when  it  can  be  made  gen- 
eral the  country  over. We  protest,  however,  against 

partial  limitation,  applying  only  to  our  State."  —  Pages  157-8. 

(/)  "  It  would  be  impracticable  to  run  our  mills  nine  and 
two  tenths  hours  per  day,  and  produce  the  same  financial  re- 
sults as  is  produced  by  the  mills  outside  of  Massachusetts, 
which  run  eleven  hours  or  more.  .  .  .  .  .    My  mill  has  run  ten 

hours  per  day,  and  the  Nashua  mill  eleven  hours  per  day.  .  .  . 

...  It  is  thus  evident  that  the  manufacturers  of  Massachu- 
setts suffer  a  direct  disadvantage  in  their  competition  with 
those  of  other  New  England  States  of  ten  per  cent,  on  the 
amount  of  their  pay  rolls.  This  I  believe  to  be  true  as  com- 
pared with  all  the  other  New  England  States."  —  Page  158. 

(/«,)  "By  the  Act  of  the  legislature  of  1874,  the  hours  of  labor 
for  all  females,  and  males  under  eighteen  years  of  age,  were  re- 
duced to  ten  per  day,  or  sixty  per  week.  This  law  has  been 
passed  by  no  other  New  England  State ;  and  the  consequence 
is,  that  the  cotton  manufacturers  of  Massachusetts  are  to-day, 
with  difficulty,  able  to  compete  with  the  other  New  England 
States,  on  account  of  the  increased  cost  of  manufacture,  caused 
by  the  lessened  production."  —  Page  160-61. 

(m)  "With  regard  to  a  further  reduction  in  time,  I  would 
say  that  the  present  time  of  sixty  hours  per  week  is  long 
enough,  provided  our  competitors  in  Rhode  Island,  Connecti- 
cut, and  New  Hampshire  work  the  same  hours ;  but,  as  they 
work  sixty-six  hours  per  week,  the  result  is  operating  disas- 
trously for  Massachusetts."  —  Page  162. 

Here  is  abundant  testimony  showing  that  any  leg- 
islative action  by  any  one  State,  or  any  portion  of 
the  States,  reducing  the  hours  of  daily  labor,  must 


A  SIX  HOUR  LAW.  263 

prove  disastrous,  because  of  the  competition  that 
would  arise  between  the  manufacturers  in  the  States 
with  long  hours,  and  those  with  short,  resulting  in 
the  destruction  of  the  industries  of  the  latter.  If  at- 
tempted the  power  of  competition  would  be  brought 
into  action  with  the  most  deadly  effect.  It  must  be 
evident  to  all  that  such  would  be  the  inevitable  result. 

Consequently,  the  necessity  for  national  action,  if 
any,  being  determined,  we  are  brought  to  the  consid- 
eration of  the  question,  Has  Congress,  under  the  Con- 
stitution, power  to  legislate  in  this  matter  ? 

Here  there  is  sure  to  be  a  conflict  of  opinion.  But 
I  fail  to  discover  on  what  ground  that  right  can  be 
either  consistently  or  constitutionally  denied.  Section 
8,  Chapter  I,  of  the  Constitution,  declares  that  Con- 
gress shall  have  the  power,  among  other  things,  "  to 
pay  the  debts  and  provide  for  the  common  defense 
and  general  welfare  of  the  United  States."  I  am  well 
aware  that  some  take  the  position  that  the  "  general 
welfare"  clause  is  a  provision  of  limitation  and  re- 
striction. If  Congress  is  not  permitted  to  "provide 

for  the general  welfare  of  the  United  States," 

by  the  same  process  of  interpretation  it  has  no  right 
nor  power  "  to  pay  the  debts  and  provide  for  the  com- 
mon defense."  These  three  distinct  powers  are  clearly 
given  in  one  sentence,  and  covered  by  one  and  the 
same  provision  ;  they  are  all  equally  affirmative  or 
negative  ;  they  must  stand  or  fall  together.  The 
only  question  that  can  possibly  arise  under  these  gen- 
eral powers  are  as  to  what  are  "  the  debts,"  what  are 
the  conditions  that  require  provision  "  for  the  common 
defense,"  and  its  nature  ;  and  what  constitutes  "  the 


264  LAND  AND  LABOR. 

general  welfare."  In  all  these  matters  Congress  is  the 
sole  judge,  and  from  its  judgment  there  is  no  appeal, 
except  to  the  people  through  the  ballot  box.  Most 
certainly  no  court  has  jurisdiction  in  the  case. 

But  the  fact  is,  there  is  not  a  limitation  or  restric- 
tion in  the  whole  section.  The  limitations  and  re- 
strictions are  found  in  section  9,  of  the  same  chapter, 
and  there  is  not  one,  in  the  whole  number,  nor  do  the 
whole  body,  in  any  particular,  nor  in  general  spirit, 
restrict  Congress  in  any  action  which  it  may  deem 
proper  to  be  taken  in  this  matter.  Congress  long 
since  took  action  for  the  welfare  of  sailors,  and  for  the 
mercantile  and  banking  interests.  Has  it  not  equal 
power  to  make  provision  for  the  welfare  of  the  whole 
of  the  industrial  classes  as  for  the  mariners,  or  for  the 
trading  and  banking  interests  ?  It  certainly  appears 
that  the  affirmative  must  be  true. 

Therefore  it  is  clear  that,  under  the  Constitution, 
Congress  has  ample  power  in  the  premises.  But  even 
if,  under  the  power  which  capital  and  monopoly  may 
wield,  the  Supreme  Court  should  see  fit  to  attempt 
to  nullify  the  action  of  Congress  by  declaring  the  six 
hour  law  unconstitutional,  a  thing  most  unlikely, 
there  is  still  a  higher  power  for  appeal,  before  which 
courts  and  congresses  must  bow  —  the  people  —  who, 
when  necessary,  may  amend  the  Constitution  itself, 
to  meet  necessary  requirements.  Abraham  Lincoln 
formulated  and  declared  the  fundamental  truth,  that 
our  government  is  a  government  of  the  people,  by  the 
people,  and  for  the  people.  Therefore,  when  the  peo- 
ple speak,  under  the  forms  provided  by  law,  the  voice 
will  be  heard  and  made  effective.  In  this  particular 


A   SIX  HOUR  LAW.  265 

our  people  occupy  a  vantage  ground  possessed  by  no 
other —  they  are  the  high  court  of  appeal,  in  which 
all  have  an  equal  voice. 

There  is  only  one  other  point,  in  this  connection, 
remaining  to  be  discussed  :  —  Would  governmental 
action,  in  the  effort  to  remove  idleness  from  out  the 
nation,  and  give  remunerative  employment  to  all,  be  a 
measure  contributing  to  the  "  general  welfare  of  the 
United  States  ?  " 

There  are  some  who  hasten  to  put  themselves  on 
record  against  any  such  measure.  In  the  answers 
made  by  the  manufacturers,  to  questions  from  the 
Chief  of  the  Massachusetts  Labor  Bureau,  heretofore 
quoted  from,  are  found  the  following.  A  shoemaker 
writes :  — 

(d)  "I  am  not  able  to  see  how  any  legislation  can  have  any 
effect  to  benefit  the  operative.  "What  business  men  can  not  ac- 
complish, actuated  by  self  interest,  the  State  had  better  let 

alone Of  course  an  enlightened  self  interest  should 

induce  capitalists  and  employers  to  do  whatever  they  can  to 
permanently  improve  the  condition  of  the  laboring  classes,  so 
called."  — Pages  149-50. 

A  chair  manufacturer  :  — 

"  We  see  no  way  to  adjust  this  matter  of  short  hours,  except 
by  the  mutual  agreement  of  the  employer  and  employed. 
Legislation  never  can  do  it.  There  are  too  many  peculiar 
circumstances  connected  with  each  line  of  manufacturing  to  be 
adjusted  by  a  legislative  body."  —  Page  151. 

A  paper  manufacturer :  - 

(  b )  "  We  do  not  see  how  the  hours  of  labor  in  our  manufac- 
ture could  be  fixed  by  law  to  the  advantage  of  employer  or  em- 
ploye."—Page  153. 


266  LAND  AND  LABOR. 

A  manufacturer  of  rubber  goods  :  — 

( a )  "  Moral  influences  and  forces  must  be  left  to  work  out 
questions  relating  to  the  welfare  of  the  employed,  rather  than 
legislation  affecting  the  time  they  shall  labor,  or  price  they 
shall  receive."  —  Page  154. 

A  textile  manufacturer  writes  :  — 

(h)  "My  opinion  is,  that  legislative  interference  in  regard  to 
the  hours  of  labor  is  unwarranted  and  uncalled  for,  and  can 

only  bring  further  distress  upon  the  laboring  classes, 

and,  to  my  mind,  legislative  interference  will  not  only  increase 
their  burdens,  but  be  a  direct  blow  to  their  rights  and  liber- 
ties."—Pages  160-61. 

Such  are  the  arguments  that  are  used  by  those  op- 
posed to  legislation  in  the  matter  of  labor.  One 
writes  that  it  is  a  matter  to  be  settled  by  the  self  in- 
terest [selfishness  ?  ]  of  "business  men,"  just  as  if  the 
whole  difficulty  had  not  grown  to  its  present  magni- 
tude under  the  fostering  care  of  this  very  quality  of 
"self  interest."  Another  says  that  he  can  not  see 
how  to  adjust  this  matter  except  by  mutual  agree- 
ment ;  a  thing  which  has  obtained  from  the  first  to 
the  present  time.  One  party  agreeing  to  work  any 
number  of  hours  that  can  be  legally  demanded,  and 
for  any  wages  that  may  be  offered,  to  save  the  family 
from  starvation ;  whilst  the  other  party  is  sure  to  de- 
mand the  largest  number  of  hours  that  the  law  will 
allow,  or  nature  can  endure,  and  the  least  compensa- 
tion that  can  be  imposed  for  the  work  done.  This  is 
the  only  kind  of  mutuality  that  is  as  yet  discoverable 
or  proposed. 

Another  writes  that  "  moral  influences  and  forces 


A  SIX  HOUR  LAW.  267 

must  be  left  to  work  out  questions  relating  to  the 
welfare  of  the  employed."  These  are  not  questions 
of  simple  morality,  nor  primarily  so,  but  of  material 
subsistence  ;  as  is  the  manufacturer's  bank  account  a 
matter  of  finance,  but  not  of  Christianity.  The  work- 
ingman  can  not  feed  his  wife  and  family  upon  good 
advice,  tracts,  and  homilies,  however  abundant  they 
may  be,  or  excellent  their  quality.  There  is  far  more 
of  nourishment  to  be  obtained  from  the  crumbs  that 
fall  from  the  rich  man's  table  than  from  the  great 
loaves  of  "moral  influences  and  forces"  so  liberally 
distributed. 

Another  believes  that  "  legislative  interference  will 
increase  the  burdens  and  be  a  direct  blow  to  the  rights 
and  liberties  of  the  laboring  classes."  Inasmuch  as 
the  laboring  classes  form  a  large  majority  of  the  peo- 
ple, and  that  whatever  legislation  is  obtained  will  be 
in  response  to  their  demand,  any  little  inconveniences 
of  that  kind  may  safely  be  left  to  work  out  their  nat- 
ural results.  As  the  increase  of  burdens  and  loss  of 
rights  and  liberties  will  be  confined  to  the  laboring 
class,  it  is  difficult  to  see  what  call  is  made  upon  the 
employers  to  protect  them  from  these  anticipated 
evils.  It  certainly  is  an  unexpected  exhibition  of  re- 
markable philanthropy  on  their  part. 

Such  are  the  reasons  and  arguments  offered  in  op- 
position to  legislation  in  behalf  of  the  working  classes. 
Arguments  that  will  not  bear  the  slightest  examina- 
tion. Indeed,  every  fact  that  has  been  brought  to 
the  surface  in  the  great  development  of  our  present 
economic  and  social  conditions,  point  to  the  absolute 
necessity  that  exists  for  some  organized  action  that 


268  LAND  AND  LABOR. 

must  be  taken  by  society  for  the  protection  of  the 
foundation  upon  which  it  rests.  This  means  law, 
pure  law  and  nothing  more  nor  less.  Anything  else 
would  be  anarchy,  dire  confusion,  of  which  we  have 
already  too  much.  Without  the  strong  controlling 
force  that  can  be  found  only  in  law,  the  spirit  of  com- 
petition and  desire  for  monopoly  which  has  so  long 
ruled  only  to  ruin,  can  not  be  controlled.  Therefore 
we  must  resort  to  law,  or  allow  things  to  drift  on  in 
the  current  now  sweeping  to  destruction. 

The  effect  of  the  enactment  of  this  law  will  be  mul- 
tifarious and  wide  reaching.  There  is  hardly  a  condi- 
tion in  life  that  would  not,  by  it,  be  modified  or  revo- 
lutionized. The  first  effect  would  be  to  take  the  idle 
out  of  idleness  and  put  them  into  remunerative  em- 
ployment. The  destruction  of  the  competition  that 
now  exists  would  directly  operate  to  the  increase  of 
wages,  an  increased  demand  for  production,  to  meet 
the  increased  consumption,  and  the  general  prosper- 
ity that  would  be  developed  in  every  direction.  But 
these  points  have  been  sufficiently  discussed  in  other 
chapters. 

The  next  most  important  effect  would  be,  that 
through  it  the  great  land  monopolies  and  machine 
cultivation  of  bonanza  farms,  without  population  or 
family  occupations,  would  be  destroyed,  for  want  of  a 
large  body  of  idle  or  half  employed  labor  to  draw  upon. 

When  it  is  said  that  it  was  the  great  landed  aris- 
tocracy that  destroyed  Rome,  but  half  the  story  is 
told.  Pliny's  words,  "  latifuudia  perdidere  Italiam," 
tell  but  half  the  truth.  Without  conditions  existing 
that  enabled  the  great  Roman  landlords  to  control  the 


A  SIX  HOUR  LAW.  269 

proletariat  and  their  slaves,  so  as  to  compel  them  to 
cultivate  and  manage  their  large  estates  in  a  manner 
that  would  destroy  and  swallow  up  the  small  land- 
holders, and  thereby  to  practically  make  the  whole 
people  slaves,  they  would  have  been  powerless,  and 
there  would  have  been  no  great  estates.  This  is  the 
dominant  factor  that  is  left  out  of  the  discussion  of 
these  matters  by  economists  of  the  feudal  stamp. 
Without  a  large  amount  of  idle  or  half  employed 
cheap  labor,  or  slaves,  that  can  be  used  at  the  pleas- 
ure or  convenience  of  the  great  proprietors,  there 
would  be  no  great  estates,  nor  swallowing  of  small 
landholders.  The  effective  weapon  of  destruction,  in 
the  hands  of  the  plutocrat,  is  competitive  idleness ; 
without  that  he  is  powerless.  Indeed,  he  would  cease 
to  exist.  But  with  the  Romans  their  slaves  and  the 
proletariat  became  the  club  with  which  they  beat 
down  the  smaller  and  weaker  landholders,  and  thus 
they  were  enabled  to  rule  and  ruin.  It  was  with 
them  as  with  us,  a  mad  consuming  competition  ;  the 
strong  against  the  weak ;  the  weak  went  down,  and 
the  real  strength  of  Rome  was  buried  with  them. 

By  this  means  have  the  great  landed  interests  con- 
trolled in  all  ages  and  among  all  peoples.  So  it  is  in 
Europe  to-day  ;  so  it  was  in  the  Southern  States,  be- 
fore the  rebellion,  when  the  negro  was  the  slave  club, 
whilst  in  the  Northern  States  the  large  landholdings 
were  practically  unknown.  And  so  it  is  now  through- 
out our  whole  country,  under  the  plutocratic  competi- 
tion and  monopoly  that  are  making  practical  slaves 
of  our  whole  people. 

But  by  the  operation  of  the  six  hour  law  the  great 


270  LAND  AND  LABOR. 

mass  of  half  employed  or  fully  idle  laborers,  who  form 
the  force  from  which  the  bonanza  farmers  draw  their 
supply  of  labor,  will  disappear.  They  will  become 
fully  employed,  where  their  wages  will  be  constant 
and  remunerative,  and  the  necessity  for  tramping 
over  the  country  to  find  an  occasional  day's  or  week's 
work,  will  have  ended.  At  seed  time,  when  the  bo- 
nanza farmer  would  need  a  body  of  laborers  to  appear 
as  formerly,  and  prepare  his  ground  and  sow  his  fields, 
they  will  not  show  up  ;  and  at  harvest,  if  it  is  ever 
reached,  the  harvesters  who  formerly  did  that  work 
will  be  otherwise  engaged,  and  there  will  be  none  to 
take  their  places.  The  bonanza  farmers,  like  all  other 
employers,  will  be  limited  to  the  number  of  laborers 
that  find  constant  employment  upon  their  estates. 
The  transient  employe  will  have  disappeared. 

Thus  those  large  estates  will  become  unmanage- 
able, unprofitable,  and  be  broken  up.  Instead  of 
competing  with  the  small  farmer  as  at  present,  and 
driving  him  out  of  the  field,  the  bonanza  farm  will 
inevitably  crumble  to  pieces,  and  be  divided  more 
rapidly  into  small  holdings  than  they  have  developed 
into  their  present  magnitude,  and  will  become  the 
homes  of  a  strong  and  thriving  people.  Every  large 
estate  that  thus  disappears  will  be  the  removal  of  an 
element  of  weakness  from  out  of  the  nation ;  and 
every  small  holding  that  becomes  so  established  will 
be  an  addition  to  the  strength  of  society.  In  this 
grand  break  up  and  reformation  the  opportunity  for  a 
change  in  the  condition  of  the  tenant  farmer  will  be 
sure  to  appear,  for  there  can  be  no  very  general  im- 
provement in  the  condition  of  these  great  interests 


A  SIX  HOUR  LAW.  271 

without  beneficially  acting  upon  all.  But  in  their 
case,  to  make  the  change  complete,  and  to  best  con- 
serve the  general  welfare,  special  legislation  will  be 
required  ;  such  as  will,  also,  affect  the  whole  landed 
interest  of  the  nation,  to  the  discussion  of  which 
another  chapter  is  devoted. 

That  these  effects  will  follow  the  enactment  of  the 
six  hour  law  may  be  counted  as  certain  as  that  day 
follows  night.  And  in  no  other  way  can  these  things 
be  accomplished.  The  whole  movement  may  be  ef- 
fected without  a  clash.  Indeed,  no  opportunities  will 
be  presented  for  collisions  of  any  nature  ;  nor  even  for 
bitterness.  There  will  be  no  confiscations,  no  arbitrary 
exercise  of  power.  It  will  be  simply,  that  under  the 
operation  of  law,  bearing  equally  on  all,  the  people 
will  go  into  regular  and  remunerative  employment, 
which  will  necessarily  compel  a  radical  change  in  all 
business  operations  that  depend  upon  a  half  employed 
and  idle  community  for  success. 

But  the  law  here  proposed  can  not  go  into  opera- 
tion without ''encountering  some  real  difficulties,  and 
more  that  are  purely  imaginary.  Of  the  imaginary 
difficulties  the  one  most  sure  to  be  encountered,  and 
at  the  same  time  the  most  groundless  as  well  as 
thoughtless,  is  the  objection  which  declares  that  the 
hours  of  labor  must  not  be  shortened  because  it  will 
give  to  laborers  more  time  to  spend  in  saloons  and  all 
manner  of  dissipations.  These  objectors  forget  that 
under  present  conditions  one  half  of  those  who  should 
be  at  work,  for  want  of  employment,  may  now  pass 
their  whole  time  in  saloons  and  dissipation  ;  whilst 
those  who  have  constant  work  are  driven  by  the  ex- 


272  LAND  AND  LABOR. 

hausting  toil  of  their  long  hours  of  labor  to  the 
saloons  and  drink  as  the  only  accessible  relief  from 
the  monotonous  slavery  of  their  lives.  Ten  to  twelve, 
and  even  eighteen  hours  of  work  a  day  in  shop,  fac- 
tory, or  field,  for  six  months  in  the  year,  drives  the 
laborer  out  of  bed  whilst  it  is  yet  dark,  to  a  hasty 
breakfast,  then  to  toil  till  it  is  again  dark,  and  into 
another  night  before  the  supper  can  be  taken.  In 
the  morning  the  father  leaves  his  children  still  in  bed, 
and  at  night,  when  he  gets  home,  they  are  again,  or 
should  be,  in  bed.  He  does  not  see  enough  of  his 
family  by  daylight  to  become  really  acquainted  with 
its  members.  In  the  long  days  of  summer  the  laborer 
has  greater  opportunities  to  see  his  children.  The 
wife  is  as  much  a  slave  as  the  husband  and  father. 
The  dwelling  is  a  home  of  poverty  and  destitution, 
without  a  single  comfort  or  attraction  of  any  kind. 
The  only  wonder  is  that  saloons  do  not  multiply  more 
rapidly,  and  that  intemperance  is  not  more  prevalent. 
At  a  great  temperance  gathering  at  Liverpool  recent- 
ly, Cardinal  Manning  spoke  of  wretched  homes  being 
the  greatest  temptation  to  drink.  He  went  to  the 
very  heart  of  the  whole  matter.  Out  of  the  two  con- 
ditions of  idleness  on  the  one  hand  and  excessive  toil 
on  the  other  have  grown  the  great  evils  of  poverty  and 
intemperance  with  which  we  are  now  cursed.  There 
can  be  no  hope  of  improvement  till  the  causes  which 
produced  these  evils  have  been  removed.  The  moral 
condition  and  family  relations  of  the  workingman  can 
not  be  improved  so  long  as  he  is  a  slave  to  toil  for  the 
full  time  that  he  is  out  of  bed.  He  must  have  time 
for  rest  and  improvement,  as  well  as  means  to  make 


A  SIX  HOUR  LAW.  273 

his  home  comfortable.  The  condition  of  the  idle  man, 
in  everything  that  relates  to  improvement,  is  worse 
than  that  of  the  unresting  toiler. 

With  these  facts,  apparent  to  everyone  who  will 
give  them  a  moment's  thought,  I  ask,  which  is  most 
desirable,  the  continuance  of  the  conditions  of  extreme 
toil  on  the  one  hand,  and  idleness  on  the  other,  with 
the  results  which  are  now  everywhere  seen  around  us, 
or  the  distribution  of  the  work  to  be  done  among  all, 
in  such  manner  that  everyone  may  have  regular  em- 
ployment, with  abundant  time  for  rest,  recreation,  and 
improvement,  and  the  means  of  making  homes  that 
are  comfortable  ?  These  are  matters  not  to  be  dis- 
missed with  a  curt  word  and  a  sneer,  but  challenge 
earnest  attention. 

The  first  and  most  considerable  real  difficulty  is, 
that  much  the  greater  portion  of  the  unemployed 
labor  of  the  country  is  unskilled.  This  fact  will  be 
seized  upon  by  the  opponents  of  the  measure,  and  be 
magnified  and  distorted  in  every  possible  form.  Yet, 
though  it  be  a  real  difficulty,  it  will  not  diminish  by 
procrastination.  It  must  be  met  and  overcome.  It 
certainly  is  not  insuperable.  Under  the  present  sys- 
tem of  almost  universal  production  by  machinery,  the 
first  and  great  thing  to  learn  by  the  unskilled  is  the 
method  of  controlling  or  attending  upon  a  single  ma- 
chine, which  may  be  more  or  less  perfectly  accom- 
plished in  a  few  weeks.  The  acquiring  the  manage- 
ment of  a  machine,  in  its  constant  repetition  of  the 
same  operations,  within  a  limited  range,  is  widely  dif- 
ferent from  what  the  learning  of  a  trade  was  fifty  years 
ago,  where  everything  was  wrought  by  hand.  But 


274  LAND  AND  LABOR. 

whatever  the  difficulties  may  be,  they  must  be  over- 
come. The  existence  of  the  great  mass  of  unskilled 
labor  that  we  now  have,  is  the  inevitable  result  of  the 
operations  of  society,  under  present  developments,  and 
society  can  not  escape  the  consequences.  Therefore, 
the  quicker  the  difficulty  is  met,  and  unskilled  labor 
is  converted  into  that  which  is  skilled,  the  better  it 
will  be  for  all. 

Another  difficulty  will  be  found  in  the  fact  that  for 
the  last  eighteen  years  we  have  been  educating  a  large 
body  of  tramps  —  we  may  safely  say,  armies  of  them 
—  who  have  no  habits  of  industry  nor  love  for  work. 
Vagabondage  has  so  long  been  their  habit  that  they 
have  learned  to  love  it.  Their  condition  must  be 
changed,  cost  what  it  may.  It  is  another  of  the  pen- 
alties that  society  must  pay  for  its  transgressions. 
The  tramp,  also,  is  an  inevitable  growth  out  of  pres- 
ent conditions.  But  the  difficulty  will  not  prove  so 
great  as  many  will  seek  to  make  it  appear.  The 
shortened  hours  of  labor  under  the  law,  and  the  ad- 
vance in  wages  that  is  sure  to  follow,  will  have  a 
powerful  influence  on  the  tramp,  however  fixed  his 
habits.  The  task  of  educating  that  class  to  habits 
of  industry,  under  the  new  conditions,  will  not  be  as 
great  as  it  now  is  to  control  and  provide  for  them 
under  the  present  state  of  things.  The  wholesome 
application  of  a  stringent  vagrant  law  would  also 
operate  beneficially  in  the  cases  of  the  otherwise  in- 
corrigible. They  would  not  be  long  in  learning  that 
six  hours  of  free  labor,  each  day,  will  be  far  easier 
than  ten  hours  of  enforced  toil. 

The  hope  of  constant  employment,  with  shortened 


A  SIX  HOUR  LAW.  275 

hours  and  liberal  compensation,  will  develop  a  mass 
of  anxious,  competent,  intelligent  applicants  for  work, 
old  and  young,  male  and  female,  that  will  pull  off  the 
scales  from  many  eyes  that  will  not  now  see  the  great 
desire  which  everywhere  exists  for  work  that  is  not 
slavery,  and  a  compensation  that  will  buy  comfort. 

These  two  classes  of  difficulties,  real  and  imaginary, 
are  all  that  merit  discussion,  and  they  would  be  over- 
come in  the  first  year  of  the  operation  of  the  six  hour 
law. 

Having  secured  to  our  people  the  blessings  that  are 
sure  to  come  out  of  the  proposed  change,  it  is  a  mat- 
ter for  grave  consideration  whether  it  be  desirable  to 
longer  keep  our  doors  wide  open,  and  fill  our  country 
with  the  poor  of  Europe.  Is  it  not  a  duty  that  we 
owe  to  our  children  to  check  the  great  influx  from 
abroad,  and  save  to  them  the  room  for  expansion  that 
is  being  so  rapidly  curtailed  by  the  alien  ?  It  cer- 
tainly appears  that  when  we  have  shown  to  the  world 
how  a  nation  may  become  prosperous  from  the  devel- 
opment of  its  own  industries,  and  the  proper  division 
of  its  labor,  we  shall  have  rendered  to  humanity  the 
greatest  service  that  can  be  expected  from  us,  and 
that  America  might  very  properly  be  preserved  for 
Americans. 

But  there  is  another  matter  that  should  be  con- 
sidered in  this  connection ;  and  that  is  the  one  so 
earnestly  dwelt  upon  by  Herbert  Spencer  in  his  last 
utterances  before  returning  to  his  native  land.  He 
named  it  the  Gospel  of  Relaxation. 


CHAPTER  XV. 

THE   GOSPEL   OF   RELAXATION. 

[BY  HERBERT  SPENCER.] 

TTERBERT  SPENCER,  at  the  reception  which 
JL1  was  tendered  to  him,  in  New  York,  on  the 
evening  preceding  his  departure  for  England,  made 
some  most  timely  remarks  to  the  gentlemen  who  were 
his  entertainers.  They  were  some  of  the  most  widely 
known  men  of  our  country,  representing  the  learned 
professions,  merchants,  and  financial  interests ;  hut 
not  a  member  of  the  great  body  of  the  people  was 
present.  Therefore  it  is  possible  that  no  part  of  what 
he  said  was  intended  to  pass  over  the  heads  of  his  im- 
mediate listeners,  and  to  reach  the  great  audience  of 
the  masses.  But  his  criticisms  and  suggestions  were 
so  perfectly  in  line  with  the  objects  sought  in  this 
volume,  that  I  can  not  forbear  the  pleasure  of  trans- 
ferring them  to  these  pages.  He  said :  - 

"  Already  in  some  remarks  drawn  from  me,  respect- 
ing American  affairs  and  American  character,  I  have 
passed  criticisms  which  have  been  accepted  far  more 
good  naturedly  than  I  could  reasonably  have  ex- 
pected ;  and  it  seems  strange  that  I  should  now  again 

276 


GOSPEL   OF  RELAXATION.  277 

propose  to  transgress.  However,  the  fault  I  have  to 
comment  upon  is  one  which  most  will  scarcely  regard 
as  a  fault.  It  seems  to  me  that  in  one  respect  Amer- 
icans have  diverged  too  widely  from  savages.  I  do 
not  mean  to  say  that  they  are  in  general  unduly  civil- 
ized. Throughout  large  parts  of  the  population,  even 
in  long  settled  regions,  there  is  no  excess  of  those  vir- 
tues needed  for  the  maintenance  of  social  harmony. 
Especially  out  in  the  West,  man's  dealings  do  not  yet 
betray  too  much  of  the  c  sweetness  and  light '  which 
we  are  told  distinguish  the  cultured  man  from  the 
barbarian.  Nevertheless  there  is  a  sense  in  which  my 
assertion  is  true.  You  know  that  the  primitive  man 
lacks  power  of  application.  Spurred  by  hunger,  by 
danger,  by  revenge,  he  can  exert  himself  energetically 
for  a  time  ;  but  his  energy  is  spasmodic.  Monotonous 
daily  toil  is  impossible  to  him.  It  is  otherwise  with 
the  more  developed  man.  The  stern  discipline  of  so- 
cial life  has  gradually  increased  the  aptitude  for  per- 
sistent industry ;  until,  among  us,  and  still  more 
among  you,  work  has  become  with  many  a  passion. 
This  contrast  of  nature  has  another  aspect.  The 
savage  thinks  only  of  present  satisfactions,  and  leaves 
future  satisfactions  uncared  for.  Contrariwise,  the 
American,  eagerly  pursuing  a  future  good,  almost 
ignores  what  good  the  passing  day  offers  him ;  and, 
when  the  future  good  is  gained,  he  neglects  that 
while  striving  for  some  still  remoter  good. 

"What  I  have  seen  and  heard  during  my  stay 
among  you  has  forced  on  me  the  belief  that  this  slow 
change  from  habitual  inertness  to  persistent  activity 
has  reached  an  extreme  from  which  there  must  begin 


278  LAND  AND  LABOR. 

a  counterchange  —  a  reaction.  Everywhere  I  have 
heen  struck  with  the  number  of  faces  which  told  in 
strong  lines  of  the  burdens  that  had  to  be  borne.  I 
have  been  struck,  too,  with  the  large  proportion  of 
gray  haired  men  ;  and  inquiries  have  brought  out  the 
fact  that  with  you  the  hair  commonJy  begins  to  turn 
some  ten  years  earlier  than  with  us.  Moreover,  in 
every  circle  I  have  met  men  who  had  themselves  suf- 
fered from  nervous  collapse,  due  to  stress  of  business ; 
or  named  friends  who  had  either  killed  themselves  by 
overwork,  or  had  been  permanently  incapacitated,  or 
had  wasted  long  periods  in  endeavors  to  recover 
health.  I  do  but  echo  the  opinion  of  all  the  obser- 
vant persons  I  have  spoken  to,  that  immense  injury  is 
being  done  by  this  high  pressure  life  —  the  physique 
is  being  undermined.  That  subtle  thinker  and  poet 
whom  you  have  lately  had  to  mourn,  Emerson,  says, 
in  his  essay  on  the  gentleman,  that  the  first  requisite 
is  that  he  shall  be  a  good  animal.  The  requisite  is  a 
general  one  —  it  extends  to  the  man,  to  the  father,  to 
the  citizen.  We  hear  a  great  deal  about  the  'vile 
body  ; '  and  many  are  encouraged  by  the  phrase  to 
transgress  the  laws  of  health.  But  nature  quietly 
suppresses  those  who  treat  thus  disrespectfully  one 
of  her  highest  products,  and  leaves  the  world  to  be 
peopled  by  the  descendants  of  those  who  are  not  so 
foolish. 

"  Beyond  these  immediate  mischiefs  there  are  re- 
moter mischiefs.  Exclusive  devotion  to  work  has  the 
result  that  amusements  cease  to  please ;  and,  when 
relaxation  becomes  imperative,  life  becomes  dreary 
from  lack  of  its  sole  interest  —  the  interest  in  busi- 


GOSPEL   OF  RELAXATION.  279 

ness.  The  remark  current  in  England  that,  when 
the  American  travels,  his  aim  is  to  do  the  greatest 
amount  of  sight  seeing  in  the  shortest  time,  I  find 
current  here  also.  It  is  recognized  that  the  satisfac- 
tion of  getting  on  devours  nearly  all  other  satisfac- 
tions. When  recently  at  Niagara,  which  gave  us  a 
whole  week's  pleasure,  I  learned  from  the  landlord  of 
the  hotel  that  most  Americans  come  one  day  and  go 
away  the  next.  Old  Froissart,  who  said  of  the  Eng- 
lish of  his  day,  that  '  they  take  their  pleasures  sadly, 
after  their  fashion/  would,  doubtless,  if  he  lived  now, 
say  of  the  Americans  that  they  take  their  pleasures 
hurriedly,  after  their  fashion.  In  large  measure,  with 
us,  and  still  more  with  you,  there  is  not  that  aban- 
donment to  the  moment  which  is  requisite  for  full 
enjoyment ;  and  this  abandonment  is  prevented  by 
the  ever  present  sense  of  multitudinous  responsibili- 
ties. So  that,  beyond  the  serious  physical  mischief 
caused  by  overwork,  there  is  the  further  mischief  that 
it  destroys  what  value  there  would  otherwise  be  in  the 
leisure  part  of  life. 

"Nor  do  these  evils  end  here.  There  is  the  injury 
to  posterity.  Damaged  constitutions  reappear  in 
children,  and  entail  on  them  far  more  of  ill  than  great 
fortunes  yield  them  of  good.  When  life  has  been  duly 
rationalized  by  science,  it  will  be  seen  that  among  a 
man's  duties,  care  of  the  body  is  imperative,  not  only 
out  of  regard  for  personal  welfare,  but  also  out  of  re- 
gard for  descendants.  His  constitution  will  be  con- 
sidered as  an  entailed  estate,  which  he  ought  to  pass 
on  uninjured,  if  not  improved,  to  those  who  follow ; 
and  it  will  be  held  that  millions  bequeathed  by  him 


280  LAND  AND  LABOR. 

will  not  compensate  for  feeble  health  and  decreased 
ability  to  enjoy  life.  Once  more,  there  is  the  injury 
to  fellow  citizens,  taking  the  shape  of  undue  disre- 
gard of  competitors.  I  hear  that  a  great  trader 
among  you  deliberately  endeavored  to  crush  out 
everyone  whose  business  competed  with  his  own ; 
and  manifestly  the  man  who,  making  himself  a  slave 
to  accumulation,  absorbs  an  inordinate  share  of  the 
trade  or  profession  he  is  engaged  in,  makes  life  harder 
for  all  others  engaged  in  it,  and  excludes  from  it  many 
who  might  otherwise  gain  competencies.  Thus,  be- 
sides the  egoistic  motive,  there  are  two  altruistic  mo- 
tives which  should  deter  from  this  excess  in  work. 

"The  truth  is,  there  needs  a  revised  ideal  of  life. 
Look  back  through  the  past,  or  look  abroad  through 
the  present,  and  we  find  that  the  ideal  of  life  is  vari- 
able, and  depends  on  social  conditions.  Everyone 
knows  that  to  be  a  successful  warrior  was  the  highest 
aim  among  all  ancient  peoples  of  note,  as  it  is  still 
among  many  barbarous  peoples.  When  we  remember 
that  in  the  Norseman's  heaven  the  time  was  to  be 
passed  in  daily  battles,  with  magical  healing  of 
wounds,  we  see  how  deeply  rooted  may  become  the 
conception  that  fighting  is  man's  proper  business,  and 
that  industry  is  fit  only  for  slaves  and  people  of  low 
degree.  That  is  to  say,  when  the  chronic  struggles 
of  races  necessitate  perpetual  wars,  there  is  evolved 
an  ideal  of  life  adapted  to  the  requirements.  We 
have  changed  all  that  in  modern  civilized  societies, 
especially  in  England,  and  still  more  in  America. 
With  the  decline  of  militant  activity,  and  the  growth 
of  industrial  activity,  the  occupations  once  disgraceful 


GOSPEL    OF  RELAXATION.  281 

have  become  honorable.  The  duty  to  work  has  taken 
the  place  of  the  duty  to  fight ;  and  in  the  one  case, 
as  in  the  other,  the  ideal  of  life  has  become  so  well 
established  that  scarcely  any  dream  of  questioning  it. 
Practically,  business  has  been  substituted  for  war  as 
the  purpose  of  existence. 

"Is  this  modern  ideal  to  survive  throughout  the 
future  ?  I  think  not.  While  all  other  things  un- 
dergo continuous  change,  it  is  impossible  that  ideals 
should  remain  fixed.  The  ancient  ideal  was  appro- 
priate to  the  ages  of  conquest  by  man  over  man,  and 
spread  of  the  strongest  races.  The  modern  ideal  is 
appropriate  to  ages  in  which  conquest  of  the  earth 
and  subjection  of  the  powers  of  nature  to  human  use 
is  the  predominant  need.  But  hereafter,  when  both 
these  ends  have  in  the  main  been  achieved,  the  ideal 
formed  will  probably  differ  considerably  from  the 
present  one.  May  we  not  foresee  the  nature  of  the 
difference  ?  I  think  we  may.  Some  twenty  years 
ago,  a  good  friend  of  mine,  and  a  good  friend  of  yours, 
too,  though  you  never  saw  him,  John  Stuart  Mill,  de- 
livered at  St.  Andrew's  an  inaugural  address  on  the 
occasion  of  his  appointment  to  the  Lord  Kectorship. 
It  contained  much  to  be  admired,  as  did  all  he  wrote. 
There  ran  through  it,  however,  the  tacit  assumption 
that  life  is  for  learning  and  working.  I  felt  at  the 
time  that  I  should  have  liked  to  take  up  the  opposite 
thesis.  I  should  have  liked  to  contend  that  life  is  not 
for  learning,  nor  is  life  for  working,  but  learning  and 
working  are  for  life.  The  primary  use  of  knowledge 
is  for  such  guidance  of  conduct,  under  all  circum- 
stances, as  shall  make  living  complete.  All  other 


282  LAND  AND  LABOR 

uses  of  knowledge  are  secondary.  It  scarcely  needs 
saying  that  the  primary  use  of  work  is  that  of  sup- 
plying the  materials  and  aids  to  living  completely  ; 
and  that  any  other  uses  of  work  are  secondary.  But 
in  men's  conceptions  the  secondary  has,  in  great 
measure,  usurped  the  place  of  the  primary.  The 
apostle  of  culture  as  it  is  commonly  conceived,  Mr. 
Matthew  Arnold,  makes  little  or  no  reference  to  the 
fact  that  the  first  use  of  knowledge  is  the  right  order- 
ing of  all  actions  ;  and  Mr.  Carlyle,  who  is  a  good 
exponent  of  current  ideas  about  work,  insists  on  its 
virtues  for  quite  other  reasons  than  that  it  achieves 
sustentation.  We  may  trace  everywhere  in  human 
affairs  a  tendency  to  transform  the  means  into  the 
end.  All  see  that  the  miser  does  this  when,  making 
the  accumulation  of  money  his  sole  satisfaction,  he 
forgets  that  money  is  of  value  only  to  purchase  satis- 
factions. But  it  is  less  commonly  seen  that  the  like 
is  true  of  the  work  by  which  the  money  is  accumu- 
lated —  that  industry,  too,  bodily  or  mental,  is  but  a 
means,  and  that  it  is  as  irrational  to  pursue  it  to  the 
exclusion  of  that  complete  living  it  subserves  as  it  is 
for  the  miser  to  accumulate  money  and  make  no  use 
of  it.  Hereafter,  when  this  age  of  active  material 
progress  has  yielded  mankind  its  benefits,  there  will, 
I  think,  come  a  better  adjustment  of  labor  and  enjoy- 
ment. Among  reasons  for  thinking  this,  there  is  the 
reason  that  the  process  of  evolution  throughout  the 
world  at  large  brings  an  increasing  surplus  of  energies 
that  are  not  absorbed  in  fulfilling  material  needs,  and 
points  to  a  still  larger  surplus  for  humanity  of  the 
future.  And  there  are  other  reasons,  which  I  must 


GOSPEL   OF  RELAXATION.  283 

pass  over.  In  brief,  I  may  say  that  wo  have  had 
somewhat  too  much  of  'the  gospel  of  work/  It  is 
time  to  preach  the.gospel  of  relaxation. 

"  This  is  a  very  unconventional  after  dinner  speech. 
Especially  it  will  he  thought  strange  that  in  return- 
ing thanks  I  should  deliver  something  very  much  like 
a  homily.  But  I  have  thought  that  I  could  not  bet- 
ter convey  my  thanks  than  by  the  expression  of  a 
sympathy  which  issues  in  a  fear.  If,  as  I  gather, 
this  intemperance  in  work  affects  more  especially  the 
Anglo  American  part  of  the  population  —  if  there  re- 
sults an  undermining  of  the  physique,  not  only  in 
adults,  but  also  in  the  young,  who,  as  I  learn  from 
your  daily  journals,  are  also  being  injured  by  over- 
work—  if  the  ultimate  consequence  should  be  a 
dwindling  away  of  those  among  you  who  are  the  in- 
heritors of  free  institutions  and  best  adapted  to  them ; 
then  there  will  come  a  further  difficulty  in  the  work- 
ing out  of  that  great  future  which  lies  before  the 
American  nation.  To  my  anxiety  on  this  account 
you  must  please  ascribe  the  unusual  character  of  my 
remarks." 

If  what  Mr.  Spencer  had  seen  and  heard  among  the 
class  in  which  he  had  moved,  and  to  whom  he  was 
talking,  had  forced  on  him  the  belief  that  their  per- 
sistent activity  had  reached  an  extreme  from  which 
there  must  begin  a  counterchange — a  reaction;  if 
everywhere  he  had  been  struck  with  the  number  of 
faces  which  told  in  strong  lines  of  the  burdens  that 
had  to  be  borne  ;  if  among  that  class  he  had  also  been 
struck  with  the  large  proportion  of  gray  haired  men ; 


284  LAND  AND  LABOR. 

if  his  inquiries  had  brought  out  the  fact  that  with 
them  the  hair  commonly  began  to  turn  some  ten  years 
earlier  than  with  his  own  people ;  if,  in  every  circle 
that  he  had  moved  in  he  had  met  men  who  had  suf- 
fered from  nervous  collapse,  due  to  stress  of  business, 
or  been  informed  of  others  who  had  killed  themselves 
by  overwork,  or  been  incapacitated,  or  had  wasted 
long  periods  in  endeavors  to  recover  health  ;  if  he  but 
echoed  the  opinion  of  all  observant  persons  to  whom 
he  had  spoken,  that  immense  injury  is  being  done  by 
this  high  pressure  life  —  that  the  physique  is  being 
undermined ;  and  if,  among  the  classes  there  repre- 
sented —  the  wealthy,  those  who  had  abundance,  and 
enjoyed  to  an  unlimited  extent  all  the  comforts  of  life, 
there  were  still  such  dismal  signs  of  overwork  and  care, 
what  are  the  signs  that  must  mark  the  condition  of 
those  who  were  there  unrepresented  —  the  poor,  the 
daily  laborer,  the  mechanic  ;  those  who  have  not  one 
of  the  comforts  of  life,  hardly  the  necessaries  ? 

The  answer  to  the  foregoing  question  is  best  made 
by  the  following  report  of  vital  statistics  quoted  from 
the  daily  press  :  — 

"  Investigations  made  in  Germany  concerning  the  vitality  of 
children  under  various  methods  of  feeding  exhibit  some  curious 
results.  Thus,  of  100  children  nursed  by  their  mothers  only 
18.2  died  during  the  first  year;  of  those  nursed  by  wet  nurses, 
20.33  died ;  of  those  artificially  fed,  60  died,  and  of  those 
brought  up  in  institutions,  80  died  to  the  100.  Again,  taking 
1,000  well  to  do  persons  and  1,000  poor  persons,  there  remained 
of  the  prosperous  after  five  years  943,  while  of  the  poor  only  i''-"> •"> 
remained  alive ;  after  fifty  years  there  remained  of  the  prosper- 
ous 557,  and  only  288  of  the  poor ;  at  70  years  of  age  there  re- 
mained of  the  prosperous  235,  and  but  65  of  the  poor.  The 


GOSPEL    OF  RELAXATION.  285 

total  average  length  of  life  among  the  well  off  class  was  found 
to  be  50  years,  as  against  32  among  the  poor." 

Here  is  the  clearest  evidence  that  if  burdens  and 
overwork  had  marked  with  strong  lines  many  of  the 
faces  of  the  class  that  Mr.  Spencer  addressed,  and 
incapacitated  and  killed  others,  that  overwork  and 
burdens  had  been  doubly  injurious  and  twice  as  mor- 
tal among  the  great  masses  upon  the  outside.  To 
these  great  masses,  also,  must  the  "  Gospel  of  Kelax- 
ation  "  be  preached  ;  and  in  the  principles  of  the  six 
hour  law  is  found  the  only  method  by  which  that 
preaching  can  be  made  effective.  It  is  to  be  reached 
only  by  destroying  that  spirit  of  destructive  competi- 
tion referred  to  by  Mr.  Spencer,  in  the  case  of  the 
"great  trader"  who  "deliberately  endeavored  to 
crush  out  everyone  whose  business  competed  with  his 
own,"  up  and  down,  through  all  classes,  to  the  ut- 
most limit. 

In  that  one  little  effort  Herbert  Spencer  deftly  held 
up  to  view  the  consuming  greed  that  is  wasting  the 
vitality  of  our  whole  people,  for  which  he  should  ever 
be  held  in  the  most  grateful  remembrance. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

GENERAL  EFFECTS  OF  THE  MECHANICAL  CHANGES  OF 
THE  PAST  FIFTY  YEARS,  AND  OF  INDUSTRIAL  RE- 
DISTRIBUTION IN  THE  FUTURE. 

rpHE  real  effect  which  the  general  use  of  machinery 
-L  in  all  industries  has  wrought  upon  the  social 
condition  of  our  people,  is  not  to  be  satisfactorily 
measured  or  appreciated  in  the  changes  which  occur 
from  year  to  year,  but,  far  better,  from  decade  to 
decade  ;  and,  better  still,  from  half  century  to  half 
century. 

That  during  the  past  fifty  years  there  has  been,  in 
the  invention,  improvement,  and  use  of  machinery, 
an  enormous  increase  in  man's  power  to  provide  for 
his  necessities  and  comforts ;  and  that,  at  the  same 
time,  there  has  been  an  alarming  development  of  ex- 
treme want  and  pauperism  can  not  be  successfully 
denied. 

Fifty  years  ago  the  bonanza  farm  was  unknown. 
Then  there  were  no  huge  tracts  of  our  best  lands 
cultivated  without  a  family  rooftree  upon  its  whole 
extent  —  without  woman  or  child,  or  other  indication 
of  a  home  ;  where  for  a  portion  of  the  year  were  to  be 
found  laborers  only,  under  the  eye  of  an  overseer,  him- 
self a  hireling,  with  cattle  and  machinery ;  and  where, 

286 


CHANGES  OF  FIFTY  TEARS,     v        287 

for  the  remainder  of  the  twelve  months  the  human 
cattle  were  not  permitted  to  remain,  but  were  driven 
forth,  and  the  quadrupeds  only,  with  the  machinery, 
were  kept  and  housed  and  cared  for  by  the  least  num- 
ber of  laborers  that  were  able  to  do  the  work.  But 
these  monster  estates  are  now  numbered  by  tens  of 
thousands. 

Fifty  years  ago,  in  our  country,  that  crushing  relict 
of  feudalism  —  the  tenant  farm  —  was  little  known  to 
us  except  as  we  learned  of  it  in  Europe.  But  now  we 
have  them  in  millions,  worked  and  held  under  condi- 
tions that  make  the  tenant  farmers  in  England  appear 
as  princes  when  compared  with  the  tenant  farmers  in 
our  boasted  land  of  comfort  and  plenty. 

Fifty  years  ago  there  were  no  large  sections  of  our 
cities  and  towns  given  up  to  and  crowded  with  tene- 
ment houses,  with  a  family  to  every  room,  whether 
light  or  dark,  in  garret  or  in  cellar,  with  hundreds  of 
men,  women,  and  children  in  every  house,  living  in  a 
state  of  wretchedness  that  beggars  description.  But 
it  is  so  at  this  time. 

Fifty  years  ago  there  were  no  armies  of  able  bodied, 
healthy  men  and  women,  skilled  in  the  arts,  profes- 
sions, and  trades  —  many  of  them  temperate  and  cul- 
tured —  wandering  all  over  the  face  of  our  country, 
vainly  seeking  work,  begging  food  and  clothing,  sleep- 
ing where  they  can,  and  the  next  day  continuing  their 
vain  hunt.  But  we  have  them  now. 

Fifty  years  ago  there  was  not  an  enforced  idleness 
amounting  to  fully  one  half  the  working  force  of  our 
people.  But  there  is  to-day. 

Fifty  years  ago  one  half  of  our  workmen  were  not 


288  LAND  AND  LABOR. 

employed  to  the  extent  of  their  physical  endurance, 
at  compensations  that  barely  sustained  life,  whilst  the 
other  half  got  but  little  or  nothing  to  do,  and  lived 
God  only  knows  how.  But  it  is  the  case  at  this  time. 

Fifty  years  ago  we  had  the  poor  with  us,  as  we  ever 
shall  have,  but  not  as  we  have  them  to-day.  Then 
the  poor  consisted  of  the  halt  and  the  blind,  the  aged 
and  the  infirm,  the  widow  and  the  fatherless.  Then 
the  healthy  and  able  bodied  never  went  hungry  and 
cold  because  work  could  not  be  found  to  pay  for  food 
and  clothing.  But  to-day  there  are  multitudes  of  the 
most  healthy,  the  most  able  bodied,  the  most  skilled, 
the  most  cultured,  who  are  compelled  to  accept  their 
food,  if  they  get  any,  from  the  hands  of  charity,  and 
their  bed  upon  the  bare  bosom  of  mother  earth,  or  the 
stone  floor  of  the  station  house. 

Fifty  years  ago  the  beggar,  in  town  or  city,  was  a 
rare  visitor,  and  in  the  country  he  was  not  to  be 
found.  But  to-day  he  is  everywhere. 

And  it  is  a  notable  fact  that  intemperance,  igno- 
rance, insanity,  and  crime  keep  even  pace  with  the 
development  of  all  the  evils  that  are  here  enumerated. 

Neither  did  these  things  exist  forty  years  ago  as 
they  do  to-day,  nor  thirty,  nor  twenty,  nor  fifteen,  nor 
ten,  but  have  been  steadily  growing  upon  us  for  the 
last  half  century,  or  more,  with  one  notable  reaction, 
since  which  time  the  development  and  growth  of  these 
evils  have  been  appalling,  and  challenge  the  earnest 
thought  and  careful  examination  of  all. 

Who  does  not  know  that  during  the  last  fifty  years 
there  has  been  an  enormous  increase  in  pauperism  and 
crime  ?  And,  at  the  same  time,  that  there  has  been 


CHANGES   OF  FIFTY  TEARS.  289 

a  corresponding  increase  and  concentration  of  wealth 
in  the  hands  of  the  few  ? 

Now  the  fact  stands  out  bold  and  distinct,  that  in 
the  midst  of  a  greater  abundance  than  the  world  ever 
before  saw,  with  a  greater  productive  power  than  man 
has  ever  before  known,  there  never  before  was  so  great 
an  amount  of  idleness  and  destitution.  One  half  of 
the  world  in  slavery,  the  other  half  in  idleness,  and  all 
in  misery  because  of  these  two  conditions. 

But  here  comes  an  alternative  proposition  from  the 
manufacturers,  through  the  Massachusetts  Labor  Bu- 
reau, to  reduce  the  hours  of  labor  to  six  per  day,  to 
the  end  that  they  may  run  their  mills,  factories,  and 
workshops  twelve  hours  per  day,  by  the  use  of  double 
gangs,  or  two  sets  of  hands. 

What  would  be  the  effect,  if  it  were  done  ? 

Evidently  the  first  would  be  to  require  double  the 
number  of  hands  that  are  now  employed ;  because 
there  still  must  be  produced  sufficient  to  supply  so- 
ciety with  all  the  necessaries  and  comforts  of  life,  and 
this  would  require  double  the  number  of  operatives 
working  six  hours  a  day,  that  it  would  when  working 
twelve. 

This  demand  for  additional  hands  would  create  a 
competition  among  employers  for  those  who  would 
work,  and  this  would  inevitably  cause  an  advance  in 
wages.  Adam  Smith  says  that :  — 

"  When  iu  any  country  a  demand  for  those  who  live  by  wages 
— laborers,  journeymen,  servants  of  every  kind  —  is  continually 
increasing ;  when  every  year  furnishes  employment  for  a  greater 
number  than  had  been  employed  the  year  before,  the  workmen 
have  no  occasion  to  combine  in  order  to  raise  their  wages.  The 


290  LAND  AND  LABOR. 

scarcity  of  hands  occasions  a  competition  among  masters,  who 
bid  against  one  another,  and  thus  voluntarily  break  through  the 
natural  combination  of  masters  not  to  raise  wages. 

"  But  it  would  be  otherwise  in  a  country  where  the  fund  des- 
tined for  the  maintenance  of  labor  was  sensibly  decaying.  Ev- 
ery year  the  demand  for  servants  and  laborers  would,  in  all  the 
different  classes  of  employment,  be  less  than  it  had  been  the 
year  before.  Many  who  had  been  in  the  superior  classes,  not 
being  able  to  find  employment  in  their  own  business,  would  be 
glad  to  seek  it  in  the  lowest.  The  lowest  class  being  not  only 
overstocked  with  its  own  workmen,  but  with  the  overflowings 
of  all  the  other  classes,  the  competition  for  employment  would 
be  so  great  in  it  as  to  reduce  the  wages  of  labor  to  the  most 
miserable  and  scanty  subsistence  of  the  laborers.  Many  would 
not  be  able  to  find  employment  even  upon  these  hard  terms, 
but  would  either  starve,  or  be  driven  to  seek  a  subsistence, 
either  by  begging,  or  by  the  perpetration  of  the  greatest  enor- 
mities. "  —  Wealth  of  Nations. 

Here  are  clearly  defined  the  conditions  that  cer- 
tainly follow  the  full  and  the  partial  employment  of 
"  those  who  live  by  wages."  A  demand  for  workmen 
and  advance  in  wages  would  have  the  direct  and  im- 
mediate effect  of  putting  into  the  hands  of  the  great 
body  of  the  people  a  largely  increased  amount  of 
funds ;  first,  because  of  the  additional  number  that 
had  been  brought  into  employment;  and,  secondly, 
because  of  the  advance  in  compensation,  caused  by 
competition  among  employers  to  obtain  operatives. 

The  market  for  home  consumption  would  at  once 
be  fully  doubled  by  the  increased  normal  consumption 
of  the  people,  before  whom  all  our  present  surplus 
would  quickly  disappear,  creating  greatly  increased 
demands  for  reproduction  and  stimulating  every  in- 
dustry, as  did  the  bringing  of  all  into  employment  at 


INDUSTRIAL  REDISTRIBUTION.  291 

the  opening  of  the  war  of  the  rebellion.  These  causes 
and  effects,  in  the  law  of  economics,  follow  with  the 
utmost  certainty,  the  converse  of  which  we  have 
abundantly  demonstrated  during  the  past  seventeen 
years.  The  industrial  operations  of  the  war  of  the 
rebellion,  from  1861  to  1865,  when  the  increased  de- 
mand for  operatives,  either  in  the  armies  or  in  the 
abnormal  industries,  which  were  followed  by  all  the 
effects  already  pointed  out,  fully  illustrate  the  law 
that  governs  in  these  matters.  It  needs  no  further 
argument  on  my  part  to  prove  that  every  dollar  that 
goes  into  the  hands  of  the  wage  receivers  is  immedi- 
ately turned  into  trade,  and  goes  back  again  to  the 
fund  from  which  it  started,  with  a  large  per  centage 
of  the  value  of  the  products  which  it  has  helped  to 
circulate.  And,  manifestly,  this  demand  for  con- 
sumption and  reproduction  would  be  limited  and  re- 
stricted only  by  the  amount  of  wages  or  compensation 
received  by  the  operatives,  up  to  the  limit  of  the  most 
liberal  consumption  ;  thus  creating  and  sustaining  a 
largely  increased  demand  for  reproduction  and  distri- 
bution, and  prosperity  with  all.  These  would  be  the 
general  effects. 

In  agriculture  it  would  have  the  direct  and  imme- 
diate result  of  restoring  the  small  farmer  to  that  con- 
dition of  independence  and  security  that  would  insure 
the  return  to  the  farm  of  the  multitudes  now  vainly 
seeking  employment  elsewhere,  and  at  the  same  time 
put  an  effective  stop  to  great  capitalists  and  corpora- 
tions obtaining  and  working  large  bodies  of  land,  by 
means  of  machinery  and  hirelings,  in  the  manner  that 
has  been  described.  It  would  compel  the  division 


292  LAND  AND  LABOR. 

into  small  tracts  of  the  large  farms  already  created, 
each  and  all  of  which  would  be  occupied  by  a  family 
that  would  surround  itself  with  all  the  improvements 
its  means  could  command,  and  fill  the  country  with 
independent  homes. 

The  large  farmer,  capitalist,  and  corporation  that 
depended  on  occasional  labor  for  the  work  necessary 
to  the  successful  use  of  machines  and  animals  on  their 
farms,  would,  in  the  first  place,  at  seed  time  and  har- 
vest, be  unable  to  find  a  great  amount  of  unemployed 
labor,  ready  to  take  any  work  that  might  be  offered, 
however  short  the  time  required  or  small  the  compen- 
sation ;  and  when  hands  could  be  found,  they  would 
be  limited  to  six  hours  of  work  per  day.  If  more 
work  should  be  required,  more  hands  must  be  ob- 
tained. But  the  small  farmer,  doing  his  work  within 
his  own  family,  would  not  be  affected  by  any  of  these 
disabilities.  He  would  govern  his  own  time  for  work 
by  the  necessities  of  the  occasion,  making  it  longer  or 
shorter,  as  might  be  required,  whether  it  were  twelve 
hours  per  day  or  but  one.  And  in  those  operations 
requiring  the  use  of  the  great  agricultural  machines 
that  so  materially  facilitate  and  lighten  the  work  of 
the  farm,  cooperation  and  joint  ownership  could  be 
most  advantageously  adopted  ;  or  the  reaping,  thrash- 
ing, etc.,  as  now  often  done  by  specialists,  who  own 
the  machines,  may  be  more  generally  adopted  ;  thus 
giving  to  the  small  farmer  of  to-day  the  full  benefit 
of  all  the  improvements  that  have  been  made  in  agri- 
cultural implements,  and  immeasurably  advancing 
his  condition  above  that  of  the  farmers  of  our  fathers' 
time.  Under  these  conditions  the  small  farmer  would 


INDUSTRIAL  REDISTRIBUTION.  293 

have  that  percentage  of  labor  in  his  favor  that  would 
amply  secure  him  from  all  harmful  competition  by 
large  capitalists  and  corporations  ;  and,  on  an  aver- 
age, every  quarter  section  of  land  would  be  occupied 
as  a  homestead  that  would  receive  the  full  benefit  of 
all  the  improvements  that  could  be  put  upon  it. 
Thus  continually  advancing  the  general  condition  of 
the  people  and  increasing  the  wealth  of  the  country. 

The  railroads  would  have  not  only  the  large  amounts 
of  produce  to  carry  to  market  that  they  now  enjoy, 
but  would  also  have  large  return  freights,  for  the  sup- 
ply of  the  numerous  families  occupying  the  farms  of 
the  country.  And  more  than  this  :  there  would  be 
created  a  large  local  and  distant  passenger  travel,  now 
so  conspicuously  wanting,  sustained  by  both  the  in- 
creased population  and  their  improved  condition,  the 
absence  of  which,  at  this  time,  in  the  agricultural  sec- 
tions, is  one  of  the  most  serious  matters  that  aifect 
those  interests.  Excepting  that  of  the  farmers,  no 
interest  in  our  whole  country,  especially  in  the  great 
Westj  would  be  so  largely  and  so  beneficially  affected 
by  the  redistribution  of  labor  that  the  adoption  of 
this  proposition  would  bring  about,  as  that  of  the 
railroads.  It  is  not  in  unpopulated  regions,  nor 
among  tramps  and  beggars  that  those  great  interests 
find  favorable  conditions.  In  the  general  prosperity 
of  the  people  do  they  find  their  best  requirements  ; 
and  in  the  agricultural  sections  it  is  by  the  numerous 
small  farms  and  prosperous  homes  that  their  success 
is  assured  ;  whilst  large  tracts,  however  well  culti- 
vated, without  homes  or  fixed  population,  afford  but 
meager  support  to  any  great  interest. 


294  LAND  AND  LABOR. 

But  long  before  this  point  has  been  reached  in  the 
discussion  the  voices  of  the  capitalists  and  the  em- 
ployers are  heard,  crying  out,  "What,  shall  the  laborer 
be  paid  the  same  for  working  six  hours  as  he  has  been 
for  working  ten  ?  " 

Wait  a  moment,  gentlemen.  Let  us  understand 
what  is  understood  by  that  question,  and  what  con- 
siderations are  involved.  For  what  do  you  pay  wages 
to  laborers  and  workingmen  ?  Do  you  pay  them  for 
the  time  they  occupy  or  for  the  amount  of  work  they 
do  ?  When  you  pay  them  for  a  day's  work  is  it  not 
because  they  are  supposed  to  have  produced  some- 
thing ?  If  of  two  men  working  side  by  side,  upon 
the  same  work,  one  is  producing  only  one  half  as 
much  as  the  other,  do  you  pay  them  both  the  same 
amount  for  their  day's  service,  except  upon  compul- 
sion ?  Is  not  the  work  of  one  of  these  men  of  twice 
the  value  to  yourself  and  to  society  than  is  that  of  the 
other  ?  Is  not  the  service  of  the  man  who  makes  two 
pairs  of  shoes  in  a  given  time  of  more  value  to  the 
employer  and  society  than  he  who  can  make  but  one 
pair  of  like  quality  in  the  same  period  ?  If,  to-day, 
the  shoemaker  can  make  two  pairs  of  shoes,  where 
yesterday  he  could  make  but  one,  is  not  the  service 
of  to-day  of  double  the  value  of  that  of  yesterday  ? 

These  questions  carry  their  own  answers.  Whether 
men  are  employed  by  piece  or  -time  work  the  compen- 
sation is  popularly  supposed  to  be  gauged  by  the 
amount  of  work  done  or  real  service  rendered,  and  not 
by  the  mere  time  occupied.  At  any  rate  it  should  be 
so,  say  one  and  all,  and  any  other  rule  is  grossly  un- 
just, to  call  it  by  the  mildest  of  terms. 


INDUSTRIAL  REDISTRIBUTION.  295 

A  pair  of  shoes  is  of  the  same  value  to  the  individ- 
ual and  to  society,  in  their  wear  and  use,  whether 
made  by  one  man  or  by  two  ;  or  whether  made  yes- 
terday or  to-day  ;  and  worth  the  same  compensation, 
either  in  kind  or  in  money,  which  is  only  the  repre- 
sentative of  that  which  we  call  kind.  So  is  a  bushel 
of  wheat,  or  a  sack  of  potatoes,  or  a  yard  of  cloth.  It 
is  the  product  that  bears  the  intrinsic  value,  in  minis- 
tering to  the  wants  and  comforts  of  society  and  to  the 
volume  of  trade,  and  in  exact  proportion  to  its  use, 
only,  does  it  perform  those  functions.  Manifestly, 
then,  the  only  standard  by  which  the  value  of  wages 
can  be  measured  is  by  the  product,  and  in  proportion 
to  that  amount  should  it  be  compensated. 

But  what  are  the  facts  in  this  relation  ?  A  care- 
ful examination  will  show  that  the  workingmen  are 
compensated  in  inverse  ratio  to  the  amount  of  product 
produced  or  real  service  rendered.  Eighteen  years  ago 
24,151  persons  were  paid  a  greater  amount  for  produc- 
ing 175,875,934  yards  of  cotton  cloth  than  were  31,707 
persons  ten  years  afterwards  for  the  production  of 
874,780,874  yards,  or  nearly  five  times  greater  pro- 
duct. So  in  boots  and  shoes.  In  1865,  52,821  per- 
sons were  paid  at  least  three  times  as  much  for  mak- 
ing 31,870,581  pairs  as  was  paid  to  48,090  persons  in 
1875  for  making  59,762,866  pairs.  So  in  woolen 
goods ;  so  in  building ;  so  in  agriculture ;  so  in 
everything. 

Ever  since  machinery  came  into  use  in  general  pro- 
duction there  has  been  a  constant,  but  gradual,  de- 
crease in  the  amount  paid  to  labor  for  a  given  quan- 
tity of  any  production,  and  in  the  amount  of  labor 


296  LAND  AND  LABOR. 

employed,  until  the  general  condition  has  been  reached 
that  is  stated  in  the  first  portion  of  this  chapter.  A 
competition  has  been  developed  that  in  no  way  tends 
to  the  elevation  of  the  masses,  or  improvement  in 
their  condition.  On  the  contrary  the  whole  effort  has 
been  to  cheapen  labor  —  to  make  it  of  less  necessity, 
of  less  value  —  to  give  it  less  power  in  the  struggle 
for  subsistence  —  to  create  a  competition  that  never 
ceases  its  grinding  of  the  labor  of  man  to  a  lower 
level.  In  the  interest  of  what  Adam  Smith  terms 
the  "  mercantile  system  "  the  sole  end  and  aim  of  all 
effort  appears  to  be  to  sacrifice  every  interest  to  cheap 
production,  that  the  merchant  may  be  enabled  to 
"  buy  cheap  and  sell  dear  "  -  to  build  up  trade  —  to 
extend  commerce  —  that  the  whole  world  may,  either 
as  cheap  producers  or  dear  purchasers,  or  as  both, 
pay  tribute  to  trade  —  and  to  trade  only. 

To  the  mercantile  class  it  seems  that  the  only  value 
of  the  workingman  is  in  producing  the  greatest  possi- 
ble amount  at  so  cheap  a  rate  that  it  may  be  bought 
and  sold,  at  home  or  abroad,  so  as  to  yield  the  great- 
est possible  margin  of  profit  to  the  merchant.  The 
effect  that  this  system  may  have  on  the  producer  is 
a  matter  of  the  utmost  indifference.  And  of  equal 
indifference  appears  to  be  the  ultimate  effect  that 
these  operations  may  have  upon  trade  itself  and  soci- 
ety in  general.  The  supreme  effort,  to  subserve  which 
all  the  powers  of  society  appear  to  be  directed,  is  the 
production  of  every  product  primarily  for  mercantile 
uses,  that  the  merchant  may  obtain  a  profit.  In  this 
effort  is  found  enlisted  the  whole  power  and  influence 
of  the  daily  and  periodical  press.  It  shapes  our  legis- 


INDUSTRIAL  REDISTRIBUTION.  297 

lation  and  controls  our  governmental  policy,  Loth  do- 
mestic and  foreign.  All  other  interests  and  persons 
are  compelled  to  yield  to  the  apparently  paramount 
importance  of  trade  and  the  trader. 

The  present  competition  practically  teaches  that 
society  exists  and  is  organized  for  the  sole  purpose 
of  buying  and  selling,  and  that  the  most  successful 
trader  —  he  who  can  buy  the  cheapest  and  sell  the 
dearest  —  is  the  person  most  to  be  honored.  The 
tendency  of  present  feudo-economic  teachings  and 
practices  is  not  to  the  advancement,  but  to  the  de- 
moralization, of  society  in  general. 

But  at  the  time  when  the  most  liberal  compensa- 
tion was  paid  to  workingmen  for  the  product  pro- 
duced, or  service  rendered,  society  was  in  its  most 
prosperous  condition  and  all  enterprises  nourished. 
Then  it  was  that  the  merchant  or  trader  really  made 
his  greatest  gains  ;  because,  being  dependent  upon  the 
masses  for  the  sale  and  use  of  his  goods  and  wares, 
they  were  then  in  condition  to  buy  and  consume  most 
liberally.  More  than  this  :  the  workman  who  receives 
two  dollars  per  day  can  better  afford  to  pay  to  his  mer- 
chant ten  per  cent,  profit  upon  the  goods  bought  and 
consumed,  than  can  he  who  receives  but  one  dollar  a 
day  pay  five  per  cent. ;  for  the  reason  that  in  the  one 
case,  after  paying  the  merchant's  ten  per  cent,  profit 
on  the  subsistence  purchased,  there  yet  remains  one 
dollar  and  eighty  cents  for  the  workman's  support ; 
but  in  the  other,  after  paying  the  five  per  cent,  of 
profit,  there  remains  to  him  but  ninety-five  cents  for 
his  sustenance.  Thus  it  is  seen  that  the  well  paid 
workiugman  not  only  greatly  adds  to  the  volume  of 


298  LAND  AND  LABOR. 

trade  over  and  above  him  that  is  poorly  paid,  but  also 
pays  double  the  profit.  The  business  experience  of 
our  country  within  the  past  twenty-five  years  amply 
illustrates  these  principles.  Perhaps  they  will  be  bet- 
ter understood  when  the  manufacturers,  traders,  and 
capitalists  of  society  can  be  made  to  understand  the 
selfevident  truth  uttered  by  Adam  Smith,  that  the 
great  masses  —  "  servants,  laborers,  and  workmen  of 
different  kinds  make  up  far  the  greater  part  of  a  great 
political  society  "  —  and  that  "  no  society  can  surely 
be  flourishing  and  happy  of  which  the  greater  part 
of  the  members  are  poor  and  miserable." 

During  the  last  twenty-five  years  the  workingman's 
power  of  production  has  been  increased  at  least  four 
fold.  That  being  the  case  it  necessarily  follows  that 
his  condition  should  be  proportionately  improved. 
When  the  powers  of  an  individual  or  of  society  are 
so  developed  as  to  increase  his  or  its  means  of  sub- 
sistence or  comfort,  it  follows  that  no  useful  result  is 
reached  if  that  individual  or  society  does  not  receive 
a  corresponding  benefit,  either  in  the  greater  abun- 
dance of  subsistence  and  increase  in  comfort,  or  in 
lessening  the  amount  of  toil  or  labor  required  in  their 
production,  or  in  both.  But  during  this  period  the 
workingman's  compensation  has  not  increased  either 
in  kind  or  in  its  representative  —  his  subsistence  has 
not  become  more  abundant  nor  his  comfort  greater, 
except  for  a  short  season,  and  now  his  condition  is 
worse  than  ever,  as  is  evidenced  by  the  universal  dis- 
tress and  the  hosts  without  any  means  of  sustenance. 

Therefore,  to  the  question,  "What,  shall  the  la- 
borer be  paid  the  same  for  working  six  hours  as  he 


INDUSTRIAL  REDISTRIBUTION.  299 

has  been  for  working  ten  ?  "  I  answer,  Yes,  a  thou- 
sand times  yes,  if  the  product  of  the  six  hours  of 
to-day  be  equal  to  the  ten  hours  of  yesterday ;  be- 
cause it  is  the  only  way  in  which  society  can  receive 
any  benefit  from  its  increased  power  of  production,  or 
the  workman  obtain  a  greater  amount  of  subsistence 
or  enlargement  of  comfort.  It  would  be  only  practi- 
cally allowing  to  the  farmer  the  natural  benefit  that 
should  be  derived  from  his  ability  to  grow  two  bush- 
els of  wheat  where  before  he  could  raise  but  one  ;  or 
the  shoemaker  two  pairs  of  shoes  where  previously  he 
could  make  but  a  single  pair.  It  would  be  illustrat- 
ing the  benefit  of  making  two  spears  of  grass  grow 
where  but  one  grew  before,  when  the  grower's  condi- 
tion was  just  that  much  improved. 

It  is  evident  that  something  must  be  done  whereby 
the  workingmen  and  society  shall  be  restored  to  their 
condition  of  past  prosperity,  and  receive  a  benefit 
from  every  new  development  of  power,  instead  of  be- 
ing forced  to  greater  privation.  If,  to-day,  by  six 
hours  of  work  as  great  an  amount  can  be  produced  for 
the  comfort  and  sustenance  of  society  as  could  yester- 
day be  done  in  ten,  then  every  principle  of  social  de- 
velopment and  sound  business  policy  demand  the 
adoption  of  the  six  hours,  and  it  must  be  done,  to 
the  end  that  the  idle  may  be  brought  into  employ- 
ment. These  matters  are  simply  questions  of  fact  as 
to  power  of  production,  sustenance,  and  comfort,  and 
rest  solely  on  the  employment  of  the  people. 

On  purely  economic  grounds  the  principle  involved 
in  the  six  hour  proposition  must  be  adopted.  Our 
power  of  production,  within  the  l&»4rTpiarter  of  a  cen- 


300  LAND  AND  LABOR. 

tury,  has  increased  at  least  four  fold.  The  simplest 
economic  law  demands  that  the  consumption  in  soci- 
ety—  among  the  masses  where  the  increased  produc- 
tion has  developed  —  shall  keep  pace  with  it,  or  be 
compensated  in  some  other  form.  But  it  has  not. 
Individual  consumption  has  actually  fallen  off  — 
there  has  been  no  compensation  in  any  form.  The 
increased  production,  in  great  part,  has  been  sent 
abroad,  leaving  many  of  our  own  people  destitute  — 
hungry  and  naked  —  and  sold  to  foreigners  at  prices 
that  represent  the  distress  of  our  industrial  classes, 
and  at  the  same  time  destroys  the  productive  indus- 
tries of  the  people  who  buy. 

Within  the  last  half  century  our  power  of  general 
production  has  increased  at  least  ten  fold.  Has  the 
comfort  of  the  masses  of  the  people  increased  in  like 
degree  ?  Let  our  crowded  cities,  our  tenement  houses 
with  their  squalor  and  horrible  mortality,  our  aban- 
doned farms  and  ruined  homes  of  the  people,  our  half 
employed  and  idle  multitudes,  our  legions  of  beggars 
and  armies  of  tramps,  our  poverty,  distress,  and  crime 
of  every  nature,  with  the  steady  concentration  and 
growth  of  wealth  and  luxury  in  the  hands  of  the  few 
—  all  of  which,  with  us,  are  the  result  of  the  "  bene- 
ficent competition  "  of  the  last  half  century  —  answer 
the  question. 

To  the  dullest  apprehension  these  facts  and  princi- 
ples should  be  selfevident.  But  generations  of  false 
teachings,  fallacies,  and  indifference  are  stubborn 
obstacles  to  encounter. 

One  interest,  and  one  only,  in  our  whole  country, 
would  be  even  apparently  injured  by  the  six  hour 


INDUSTRIAL  REDISTRIBUTION.  301 

rule  ;  and  that  would  be  the  interest  that  would 
monopolize  the  great  farming  lands  of  the  country 
and  destroy  the  small  farm  interests.  But  the  de- 
struction of  these  great  monopolies,  in  the  manner 
suggested,  would  not  only  be  an  immediate  and  posi- 
tive gain  to  society,  but  would  save  our  country  from 
the  revolution  of  violence  which  the  present  tenden- 
cies are  sure  to  bring. 

The  tenement  houses  in  our  towns  and  cities  have 
grown  out  of  the  necessities  of  two  causes,  working  in 
the  same  direction.  First,  in  the  necessity  of  the 
workingman  living  near  the  work  by  which  he  is  sub- 
sisted, because  the  long  hours  he  is  employed,  if  at 
all,  will  not  permit  the  loss  of  time  required  in  travel- 
ing long  distances  ;  and,  secondly,  because  the  com- 
pensation he  receives  for  his  work  will  not  permit  of 
either  the  payment  of  anything  more  than  the  cheap- 
est rents,  nor  the  expense  of  railroad  travel  to  places 
more  distant,  where  rents  are  cheaper.  However  great 
the  evils  of  these  houses,  they  can  not  be  lessened  be- 
fore the  causes  which  produced  them  are  removed.  In 
this  case,  also,  the  adoption  of  the  six  hour  rule  would 
afford  immediate  and  direct  relief,  in  several  ways.  In 
the  first  place,  the  doubling  of  the  number  of  opera- 
tives, by  employing  double  gangs,  in  all  occupations, 
would  set  their  idle  occupants  at  work,  and  give  them 
greater  means  of  subsistence.  The  shortening  of  the 
hours  of  work  would  give  them  the  time  to  travel  long 
distances  to  and  from  their  homes  ;  and  the  increase 
of  wages  would  give  the  means  to  pay  the  expenses 
of  the  travel.  In  this  way  the  tenement  house  evil 
may  be  radically  cured.  This  remedy  will  also  work 


302  LAND  AND  LABOR. 

to  the  direct  benefit  of  the  railroad  interest,  in  fur- 
nishing a  large  amount  of  travel  and  business  to  sub- 
urban homes,  and  value  to  outside  lands  and  rents. 
By  this  means  one  of  the  greatest  evils  that  afflict 
society  may  be  thoroughly  and  permanently  removed, 
to  the  benefit  of  all,  and  without  cost  to  any,  except 
the  owners  of  the  tenement  houses. 

Under  the  operation  of  the  six  hour  rule  the  tramps 
would  quickly  disappear.  The  small  farms  and  the 
various  industries  of  the  country  would  absorb  them 
all ;  and  instead  of  being  the  itinerant  pests  of  socie- 
ty, they  would  become  valuable  members  of  the  social 
and  political  community  —  producing,  consuming,  and 
adding  their  equal  share  to  the  wealth  of  society. 

This  bringing  of  all  into  the  industries  of  the  coun- 
try—  this  giving  of  employment  to  the  idle  —  having 
secured  to  the  small  farmer  the  fullest  opportunity  for 
life  and  its  enjoyments  ;  having  relieved  the  tenement 
houses  of  the  cities  and  towns  ;  and  brought  the  tramp 
into  useful  and  profitable  occupation,  it  may  with  con- 
fidence be  expected  that  again  would  the  poor  be  lim- 
ited to  the  halt  and  the  blind,  the  aged  and  the  in- 
firm, the  widow  and  the  fatherless* — those  whom  the 
Master  declared  we  should  always  have  with  us  ;  and 
the  beggar  would  again  become  a  stranger. 

With  the  strength  that  society  would  gain  by  these 
great  changes  there  can  be  little  doubt  that  the  demon 
of  intemperance  may  be  successfully  attacked,  and  ul- 
timately wiped  out.  The  great  causes  of  its  general 
prevalence  having  been  removed,  the  evil  itself  might 
be  destroyed. 

And  in  education,  with  renewed  prosperity  and 


INDUSTRIAL  REDISTRIBUTION.  303 

added  strength  in  the  people,  there  would  most  cer- 
tainly be  an  advance. 

These  are  some  of  the  immediate  and  most  direct 
benefits  which  society  would  derive  from  the  adoption 
of  this  proposition,  in  bringing  all  into  employment. 
With  the  most  earnest  desire  to  discover  what  would 
be  the  evils  that  would  grow  out  of  the  adoption  of 
these  measures  I  have  not  been  able  to  find  even  one. 
And  in  the  matter  of  cost,  or  loss,  which  would  at 
once  arise  in  the  minds  of  many,  in  every  case  the 
material  compensation  that  would  immediately  follow 
would  immeasurably  more  than  repay  for  all. 

In  discussing  this  matter,  as  applied  to  employ- 
ments, I  have  made  special  use  of  the  facts  in  the 
development  of  agriculture  to  illustrate  the  operation 
of  the  measure  proposed,  for  the  reason  that  it  is  the 
occupation  that  lies  at  the  base  of  the  world's  pyra- 
mid of  industry.  But  the  facts  in  any  and  every 
other  employment  wherein  machinery  is  used  may 
also  be  taken  for  illustration,  though  it  may  be  that 
the  effects  may  not  so  easily  be  made  apparent. 

And  in  trade,  especially  the  retail  trade,  there  is 
the  most  pressing  necessity  for  the  application  of  the 
proposed  measure.  It  is  notorious  that  a  few  great 
establishments  are  surely  swallowing  up  and  destroy- 
ing the  small  ones.  Here,  also,  the  small  trader  can 
not  compete  with  his  gigantic  neighbor.  This  is  not 
to  the  interest  of  society,  whatever  it  may  be  to  the 
great  merchant. 

Would  it  be  to  the  interest  of  society  that  half  a 
dozen  establishments,  in  one  city,  should  do  all  the 
retail  business,  in  any  line,  in  place  of  an  hundred  ? 


304  LAND  AND  LABOR. 

Or  that  one  should  do  it  all  in  place  of  ten  ?  The 
tendency,  at  the  present  time,  is  to  one  against  a 
hundred,  under  the  influence  and  power  of  precisely 
the  same  forces  as  are  destroying  the  small  farmers 
and  fattening  the  nonresident  plutocrats,  and  must 
be  met  with  the  same  remedy.  In  any  and  all  cases 
the  adoption  of  the  propositions  from  the  manufac- 
turers of  Massachusetts  will  be  ample  to  protect  so- 
ciety and  the  workingman  against  the  crushing  weight 
of  capital ;  because  capital,  without  the  uncontrolled, 
slavish  use  of  labor,  —  that  great  fund  which  supplies 
every  nation  "with  all  the  necessaries  and  conven- 
iences of  life,"  —  is  powerless  for  injury  to  the  indus- 
tries of  mankind. 

With  the  adoption  of  their  propositions  machinery 
would  at  once  fill  its  proper  function,  in  conferring 
upon  mankind  the  great  blessings  of  reduction  in  toil, 
and  at  the  same  time  vastly  increased  production  and 
use  of  the  necessaries,  comforts,  and  wealth  of  society. 

Society  is  a  vast  and  complex  social  machine,  the 
force  or  motive  power  which  runs  it  being  labor  only, 
but  without  regulator  or  governor  of  any  kind.  Every 
speculator,  gambler,  monopolist,  and  manufacturer 
uses  and  consumes  the  labor  of  the  machine  as  ca- 
price or  self  interest  dictates.  The  result  is,  that  the 
n  1,1  chine  is  always  out  of  order  and  needing  repairs. 
It  becomes  the  toy  or  plaything  of  anyone  who  has 
the  capital  to  make  it  so.  "  Crises  "  follow  "  booms  ;" 
"strikes"  succeed  "compromises;"  "lockouts"  are 
on  the  heels  of  "  amicable  arrangements  ; "  "  failures" 
and  "hard  times"  are  but  a  little  behind  "flush  times" 
and  "  prosperity."  There  is  constant  friction  and  war 


INDUSTRIAL  REDISTRIBUTION.  305 

of  jarring  interests.  But  through  it  all  the  arts  of  the 
speculator  and  gambler  are  not  remitted  ;  the  monop- 
olist and  plutocrat  gain  in  wealth  and  power,  whilst 
the  producer  and  laborer  just  as  surely  are  losing  their 
hold  upon  the  means  of  life,  and  are  becoming  more 
and  more  the  slaves  of  capital.  The  social  machine, 
without  a  regulator  can  not  run  smoothly  ;  its  irregu- 
larities must  increase  ;  the  disasters  must  multiply  as 
the  power  develops,  and  become  more  and  more  sub- 
ject to  the  evil  influences  which  now  control  it,  until, 
like  every  social  machine  that  has  preceded  it,  and 
every  mechanical  machine  that  ever  was  driven  by  an 
inconstant  power,  without  means  to  regulate  it,  it  will 
destroy  itself.  There  is  not  a  mechanic  living  who  can 
not  understand  these  principles.  Our  popular  politi- 
cal economists  and  social  gamblers,  only,  are  opposed 
to  all  apparatus  or  means  for  regulation.  Any  me- 
chanic will  say  that  the  first  requisite  for  the  success- 
ful working  of  a  machine  is  a  means  by  which  the  use 
of  the  power  which  runs  it  may  be  regulated  ;  that 
being  found,  all  its  workings  may  be  made  as  smooth 
and  even  as  may  be  desired,  with  any  power  that  may 
be  required.  By  the  adoption  of  the  six  hour  law  as 
the  regulator,  impartially  applied  and  firmly  admin- 
istered, all  the  disorders  and  irregularities  that  attend 
the  working  of  our  unregulated  social  machine,  at  this 
time,  will  be  removed,  and  order  will  take  the  place 
now  held  by  chaos.  The  speculator,  the  gambler, 
and  the  monopolist  will  lose  their  hold  of  the  great 
social  power,  and  it  will  cease  to  be  their  sport. 

Labor  would  be   made   attractive  —  a  pleasure — • 
when  every  day  should  also  bring  with  it  the  time 


306  LAND  AND  LABOR. 

for  rest,  social  intercourse,  home  employments  and 
pleasures,  with  mental  and  physical  development. 
Under  these  influences  every  interest  in  society  which 
tended  to  improve  its  condition,  would  be  developed 
and  prosper.  Schools,  churches,  libraries,  lectures, 
and  all  healthy  amusements,  social  recreations,  pick- 
nics,  excursions,  and  out  of  doors  family  enjoyments, 
conducive  to  health  and  strength,  would  be  developed, 
for  the  simple  reason  that  society  would  every  day 
have  the  time  that  could  be  so  employed.  Whilst 
the  nightly  revels  in  dens  of  debauchery  and  drunk- 
enness, and  the  neglect  of  all  the  ties  of  family  and 
home,  would  be  continually  lessened  and  gradually 
broken  up,  because  there  would  be  time  for  some- 
thing better ;  and  the  tone  of  that  society  which 
reaches  down  into  the  slums  would  be  touched  and 
beneficially  acted  upon  by  the  improvement  in  that 
which  lies  above. 

But  to  tell  the  workless  that  they  must  find  some- 
thing else  to  do  —  that  new  industries  must  be  cre- 
ated—  that  men  must  abandon  old  and  seek  new 
occupations  —  is  to  repeat  the  words  of  the  Egyptian 
taskmasters  to  the  children  of  Israel,  "Go  ye,  get  you 
straw  where  ye  can  find  it,"  when  they  knew  that  no 
straw  was  to  be  had  —  no,  not  even  stubble.  If  we 
in  the  end  escape  the  retribution  that  fell  upon  the 
people  of  Egypt,  it  will  not  be  because  of  the  wisdom 
of  such  counselors. 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

TENTH   ANNUAL  REPORT,  BUREAU   OF  STATISTICS,  FOR 
THE   STATE   OF   MASSACHUSETTS. 

"A  /TASSACHUSETTS  is  largely  in  advance  of  any 
-LVJ_  other  State  in  the  collection  of  valuable  labor 
statistics,  and  their  publication.  But,  unfortunately, 
the  facts  gathered  do  not  appear  to  be  of  any  special 
value  in  assisting  its  Chief  to  a  proper  understand- 
ing of  their  bearing  upon  the  social  and  industrial 
problems  now  so  pressing.  Indeed,  many  of  the  facts 
are  so  tortured  as  to  be  made  to  support  the  grossest 
fallacies.  The  Tenth  Annual  Report,  of  January  22, 
1879,  is  preeminently  of  that  character,  and  presents 
with  much  plausibility  several  typical  fallacies  that 
merit  attention,  because  of  their  general  bearing.  It 
is  an  extraordinary  document,  both  from  the  conclu- 
sions to  which  it  comes  as  to  the  amount  of  unem- 
ployed labor,  or  idleness,  in  that  State  and  the  Na- 
tion, and  the  methods  by  which  its  conclusions  are 
reached.  Its  conclusions  are,  as  stated  on  page  11, 
in  what  is  there  called,  "  The  Investigation  of  No- 
vember, 1878,"  that  23,000  males  and  females  at 
that  time  represented  the  unemployed  in  that  State, 
against  28,508  males  and  females  in  June,  1878,  be- 

307 


308  LAND  AND  LABOR. 

ing  "those  only  who  really  want  employment."  "  On 
this  basis  there  would  be  460,000  unemployed  able 
bodied  men  and  women  in  the  United  States,  ordi- 
narily having  work  and  now  out  of  employment." 

No  doubt  the  very  thing  was  intended  that  has  re- 
sulted from  these  statements  —  a  general  belief  that 
the  numbers  reported  in  the  special  report  of  June, 
1878,  and  the  November  Investigation,  truly  repre- 
sented the  idleness  in  that  State  and  the  Nation  at 
those  two  periods.  It  has  been  so  received  and  re- 
published  throughout  our  country. 

But  there  are  two  unknown  quantities  in  these 
statements  ;  that  of  June,  1878,  is  represented  in  the 
qualification  of  "  those  only  who  really  want  employ- 
ment." The  report  gives  us  no  idea  of  the  number 
of  skilled  and  unskilled  workmen,  then  out  of  work, 
who  did  not  "  really  want  employment ; "  nor  of  the 
inquisition  nor  inquisitors  who  ascertained  this  vital 
fact.  The  qualification  of  November,  1878,  is  in  the 
words,  "  ordinarily  having  work."  Here,  also,  we  are 
left  in  the  dark,  not  knowing  what  is  meant  by  "  or- 
dinarily having  work,"  nor  the  manner,  time,  nor  per- 
sons, in  which,  when,  or  by  whom  this  fact  was  as- 
certained. Is  it  possible  that  these  two  unknown 
quantities  were  designedly  left  as  points  upon  which 
to  quibble  and  pettifog,  and  render  these  reports  of 
no  possible  value  ?  Can  it  be  that  the  persons  who 
get  but  a  week,  or  a  month,  or  six  months  of  work  in 
a  year,  are  to  be  considered  as  "  employed  ?  " 

The  vital  conclusions  arrived  at  are,  that  460,000 
men  and  women  now  represent  the  amount  of  un- 
employed skilled  and  unskilled  labor  in  the  United 


STATISTICS  OF  LABOR.  309 

States,  and  23,000  the  number  in  that  State.  This 
is  one  per  cent,  of  idleness  for  the  whole  population 
of  the  United  States,  or  very  nearly  one  and  one  third 
per  cent,  for  that  State  ;  or,  three  per  cent,  of  the 
skilled  and  unskilled  workpeople  of  the  United  States, 
and  nearly  four  per  cent,  of  the  same  classes  in  Mas- 
sachusetts. This  calculation  is  made  upon  the  fact 
that  something  more  than  one  third  of  the  total  pop- 
ulation belong  to  the  working  classes,  as  shown  by 
the  report  under  review,  and  the  United  States  census. 

There  is  not  an  intelligent  man  or  woman  in  our 
country  who  does  not  know  that  this  showing  is  not 
true.  Every  ascertained  fact  in  possession  of  the  Mas- 
sachusetts Bureau  of  Statistics  proves  that  it  is  false. 
In  spite  of  the  two  unknown  quantities  left  open  to 
quibbling,  it  is  notorious  that  three  in  a  hundred  do 
not  represent  the  unemployed  men  and  women  of  our 
country  "  who  really  want  work,"  or  "  ordinarily  hav- 
ing work/7  but  who  are  now  without  it. 

On  page  9,  of  this  report,  in  the  apparent  effort  to 
belittle  the  amount  of  national  idleness,  I  find  this 
statement :  — 

"The  absurdity  of  the  3,000,000  statement  is  readily  seen 
when  it  is  known  that  there  are  but  about  10,000,000  people  in 
the  country  engaged  in  productive  industries." 

The  census  of  1860  gives  8,287,043  as  the  number 
of  persons  engaged  in  the  industries  of  our  country  at 
that  time ;  the  census  of  1870  gives  12,505,923  for 
that  period  ;  and  now,  with  a  population  of  over 
50,000,000,  as  given  in  the  census  of  1880,  with  the 
same  rate  of  increase  as  in  the  preceding  decade,  the 


310  LAND  AND  LABOR. 

number  can  not  be  less  than  17,000,000  who  belong 
to  the  productive  classes  and  who  should  be  at  work. 
Consequently  if  there  are  but  10,000,000  at  present 
engaged  in  the  productive  industries,  there  must  be 
7,000,000  who  are  not  engaged.  Does  not  that  Bu- 
reau know  that  within  the  last  twenty  years  we  have 
had  a  large  increase  in  our  total  population,  and  neces- 
sarily of  those  who  do  or  should  belong  to  the  indus- 
trial classes  ? 
From  page  12,  I  quote :  - 

"  Attempts  have  been  made  to  convince  the  public  that  the 
June  report  and  the  census  of  1875,  taken  and  reported  by  this 
Bureau,  were  at  great  variance.  And  from  the  census  returns 
the  assertion  has  been  made  that  there  must  now  be  nearly 
200,000  persons  out  of  employment  in  this  State,"  et  seq. 

I  filed  with  the  Hewitt  Labor  Committee,  in  Au- 
gust, 1878,  a  statement,  based  upon  the  facts  found 
in  the  Compendium  of  the  Census  of  Massachusetts 
for  1875,  published  in  1877,  showing  that  92,042  per- 
sons, belonging  to  the  industries  therein  enumerated 
(not  any  portion  of  the  638,661  contained  in  the  first 
statement  on  page  85,  Compendium),  were  unem- 
ployed and  unaccounted  for  in  1875.  The  correctness 
of  that  statement  has  not  yet  been  challenged. 

In  the  paper  which  I  read  before  the  American 
Social  Science  Association,  in  May,  1878,  upon  the 
same  authority,  but  in  a  different  view  of  the  matter, 
I  showed  that  there  was  an  idleness  of  not  less  than 
97,975  persons.  Those  figures  were  made  on  a  por- 
tion, only,  of  the  factors  in  the  case,  and  fall  short  of 
showing  the  actual  amount  of  idleness.  Yet  the  Bu- 


STATISTICS  OF  LABOR.  311 

rcau  was  swift  to  make  up  and  issue  its  June  report, 
with  its  unknown  quantity.  But  I  now  emphatically 
say,  that  the  idleness  of  200,000  persons  falls  far  short 
of  representing  the  real  idleness  in  that  State,  and  that 
every  ascertained  fact,  in  possession  of  that  Bureau  of 
Statistics,  proves  it.  I  take  it  for  granted  that  the 
Chief  of  the  Bureau  must  know  the  facts,  and  their 
full  significance,  as  reported  by  his  own  office,  and 
therefore  I  say  he  must  know  that  what  I  here  state 
is  true. 

On  pages  270-276,  Compendium  of  1875,  is  a  table 
showing  the  average  number  of  days  employed  in  a 
year,  in  262  occupations  and  subdivisions  of  occupa- 
tions, which  amount  to  229  days  and  a  fraction,  show- 
ing a  loss  of  one  fourth  of  the  working  time.  One 
fourth  of  the  working  time  of  the  584,690  persons  who 
"  belong  to  the  skilled  and  unskilled  laborers  "  of  that 
State,  amounts  to  the  full  time  of  146,172  persons. 
This  is  only  one  out  of  many  factors  I  might  cite,  but 
is  enough  to  show  the  deceitful  character  of  those  two 
reports  from  that  Bureau.  I  know  that  the  table  here 
referred  to  does  not  agree  with  the  figures  given  in 
gross  on  pages  144-45  of  the  last  report.  I  am  under 
no  obligation  to  reconcile  the  two  reports,  and  much 
prefer  the  statement  of  items  in  the  Compendium. 

The  Chief  must  know  that  the  number  of  the  in- 
dustrial classes  had  been  largely  increased  during  the 
previous  four  years,  first,  as  reported  by  himself, 
"  from  a  class  not  furnishing  competitors  four  years 

ago simply  dependents numbering 

in  all  56,117.  From  this  class  there  have  been  large 
numbers  of  recruits  to  the  ranks  of  labor."  See  page 


312  LAND  AND  LABOR. 

10.  And,  secondly,  from  the  normal  increase  of  pop- 
ulation, being  a  little  more  than  two  per  cent  per  an- 
num, or  say  50,000  persons.  This,  notwithstanding 
the  table  on  page  10,  showing  the  rates  of  births  and 
deaths.  As  this  question  relates  simply  to  the  devel- 
opment from  the  anteindustrial  age  into  that  of  the 
industrial,  by  the  lapse  of  time,  it  is  difficult  to  see 
•what  immediate  effect  the  neglect  or  refusal  of  chil- 
dren to  be  now  born  can  have  upon  the  age  develop- 
ment of  those  now  approaching  man -or  womanhood. 

Another  fact  must  be  well  known  in  the  office  of 
the  Bureau  of  Statistics,  for  it  is  clearly  shown  by  its 
ascertained  facts,  and  that  is,  that  notwithstanding 
the  enormous  increase  in  the  products  of  that  State, 
since  1865,  there  has  been  a  very  large  per  centage  of 
decrease  in  the  amount  of  manual  labor  actually  em- 
ployed, and  that,  consequently,  all  the  additions  that 
have  since  been  made  to  what  should  be  the  ranks 
of  labor,  are  just  that  much  addition  to  the  existing 
amount  of  idleness. 

In  Parts  IV  and  V  of  the  report  much  space  is 
given  to  correspondence  with  employers  and  employe's 
—  some  of  which  has  been  transferred  to  these  pages 
— with  the  almost  unanimous  agreement  upon  the 
matters  of  uncertain  and  partial  employment,  and 
wages  that  will  not  permit  of  further  reduction  and 
sustain  life,  even  where  the  employment  is  most  con- 
tinuous and  best  paid.  If  there  is  a  great  want  of 
coherency,  or  that  which  is  practical,  in  these  answers, 
it  is  not  because  of  the  neglect  of  any  useful  lessons 
in  political  economy  that  have  been  by  that  Bureau 
wasted  upon  the  people. 


STATISTICS   OF  LABOR.  313 

In  Part  V  the  matter  of  the  reduction  of  the  hours 
of  labor  is  discussed,  with  tables  and  correspondence. 
If  the  alleged  facts  in  the  report,  that  the  idleness  in 
the  country,  among  the  industrial  classes,  does  not 
exceed  three  per  cent.,  be  correct,  all  this  discussion 
is  inconsequential.  No  reduction  can  be  made  —  in- 
deed, no  reduction  is  required  —  because,  practically, 
there  is  no  idleness  ;  or,  at  most,  but  three  per  cent. 
To  successfully  reduce  from  ten  hours  to  eight,  there 
must  be  an  idleness  of  twenty  per  cent.,  "  seeking  em- 
ployment," to  meet  the  additional  demand.  Why 
does  not  that  Bureau,  upon  this  ground,  stop  the  dis- 
cussion at  once  ?  Yet  it  not  only  tolerates,  but  in- 
vites a  still  wider  discussion.  It  goes  much  farther, 
and  seriously  considers  the  propositions  from  the  tex- 
tile manufacturers  to  reduce  the  hours  of  labor  to  six, 
as  quoted  in  the  chapter  on  the  Six  Hour  Law.  The 
propositions  are  no  doubt  seriously  made,  and  reasons 
are  given  for  the  proposed  reduction.  But  to  do  it 
requires  an  idleness  of  fifty  per  cent,  among  the  skilled 
and  unskilled  work  people  of  society,  "who  really 
want  work,"  of  which  neither  the  manufacturers  nor 
the  Chief  of  the  Bureau  express  a  doubt,  nor  of  the 
practicability  of  doing  for  want  of  operatives. 

All  the  facts  that  have  been  discovered  in  this  ex- 
amination go  to  show  that  the  real  amount  of  idleness 
in  this  country  must  be  in  excess  of  fifty  per  cent,  of 
those  who  are  dependent  upon  labor  for  subsistence. 
The  following  suggestive  factors  are  recommended  for 
consideration  :  — 

First.  —  There  is  the  great  amount  of  muscular 
labor  that  has  been  displaced  by  machinery  within 


314  LAND  AND  LABOR. 

the  last  fifty  years,  equal  to  at  least  nine  tenths  of 
that  previously  required  to  produce  the  subsistence 
demanded  by  society. 

Second.  —  There  is  the  fact  that  at  the  close  of  the 
war  of  the  rebellion  at  least  two  fifths  of  the  then 
working  force  of  the  North,  and  probably  of  the  South 
also,  were  thrown  upon  the  country,  where  there  was 
no  demand  for  their  employment  —  where  they  were 
not  wanted  ;  and  that  the  only  work  they  have  ob- 
tained, since  that  time,  has  been  by  compelling  a  di- 
vision with  those  then  and  since  employed. 

Third.  —  Another  important  point  is,  that  since 
the  close  of  the  war  machinery  has  been  so  greatly 
improved  that  more  than  one  half  of  the  number  then 
required  have  been  dispensed  with.  In  this  manner 
has  the  ratio  of  idleness  been  steadily  and  constantly 
increased. 

Fourth.  —  Then  there  are  the  operations  on  the 
bonanza  farms,  where,  from  three  to  six  weeks  in  each 
year,  are  found  from  two  to  three  hundred  laborers, 
and  for  five  months  only  from  five  to  ten. 

Here  are  four  indisputable  factors,  out  of  many 
others  that  might  be  given,  that  sufficiently  prove 
that  the  idleness  must  largely  exceed  fifty  per  cent, 
of  the  working  force  of  the  country.  The  facts  upon 
these  points  are  given  in  this  volume,  and  are  unim- 
peachable. It  is  a  simple  arithmetical  problem,  not 
a  sentiment  of  desire  or  repugnance.  Sentiment  does 
not  enter  into  the  matter.  There  stand  the  facts, 
however  disagreeable  they  may  be,  and  ignorant  de- 
nial will  not  change  them.  Take  your  pencils,  dear 
readers,  and  work  out  the  problem.  It  will  prove  a 


STATISTICS  OF  LABOR.  315 

useful  study  for  those  who  will  take  it  up.  The  only 
change  that  the  factors  are  subject  to  are  their  steady 
development  in  the  direction  in  which  they  have  been 
moving  for  the  last  half  century. 

The  only  direction  in  which  there  has  been  an  ab- 
sorption from  the  great  mass  of  practical  idlers,  has 
been  toward  trade,  which  has  enormously  developed, 
and  other  unproductive  pursuits,  that  have  absorbed 
literally  their  millions  (see  pages  192-3),  until  those 
interests  have  become  as  demoralized  as  the  produc- 
tive industries,  and  still  the  idleness  is  not  dimin- 
ished. There  is  not  a  manufacturer  in  that  State 
who  does  not  know  that  he  can  double  the  number  of 
his  employes  whenever  he  requires  them  and  will  pay 
living  wages  ;  a  fact  as  well  known  in  the  Bureau  of 
Statistics  as  in  any  mill,  workshop,  or  factory  in  that 
State.  And  yet  this  same  Bureau  would  make  the 
world  believe  that  three  per  cent,  represents  the  idle- 
ness in  our  country.  The  idea  that  doubling  the 
number  of  hands  employed  might  also  double  the 
number  of  persons  who  would  thus  find  the  means  to 
buy  and  consume  their  products,  has  not  yet  dawned 
on  the  minds  of  the  manufacturers,  nor  of  the  politi- 
cal economists  in  that  Bureau.  And  it  is  also  pos- 
sible that  the  application  of  the  six  hour  rule  might 
help  them  to  an  understanding  of  the  principle  laid 
down  by  Adam  Smith,  that  the  manufacturer  finds 
his  wealth  in  the  multitude  of  hands  he  employs. 

Attention  is  drawn  to  these  points  to  show  how  ut- 
terly worthless  and  deceitful  have  been  the  attempts 
to  belittle  the  idleness  in  that  State  and  in  our  coun- 
try. The  only  answer  required  by  the  statement 


316  LAND  AND  LABOR. 

found  on  page  13,  "  that  all  attempts  to  disprove  the 
June  and  November  reports  by  figures  from  the  cen- 
sus simply  deceive  the  public/'  is,  that  either  the  June 
and  November  reports  do  deceive  the  public,  or  the 
Massachusetts  Census  Reports,  for  1875,  are  false.  It 
is  not  necessary  here  to  determine  which.  Still  it 
may  be  said  that  the  ascertained  facts  in  the  census 
report  appear  to  agree  with  all  that  I  have  been  able 
to  gather,  and  that  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  the 
June  and  November  reports  have  done  the  service  de- 
signed —  and,  possibly,  some  not  anticipated. 

But  it  is  yet  to  be  seen  that  it  is  for  the  interest  or 
honor  of  the  Commonwealth  of  Massachusetts,  or  any 
portion  of  its  people,  that  one  of  its  important  bureaux 
should  use  the  large  funds  it  receives,  and  the  power 
and  influence  it  possesses,  to  give  currency  to  reports 
of  the  character  they  are  here  shown  to  be.  What  is 
wanted  is  a  clear  and  accurate  statement  of  the  real 
condition  of  the  employments  and  idleness  of  the 
people,  without  reservations,  unknown  quantities,  or 
quibbles.  This  information  that  Bureau  can  give, 
and  nothing  less  can  be  either  satisfactory  or  really 
useful. 

There  are  other  matters  in  the  Tenth  Annual  Re- 
port as  fallacious  as  that  regarding  the  amount  of 
idleness  in  the  Commonwealth  ;  and  particularly  so 
is  that  which  relates  to  the  mechanical  industries  of 
the  State  and  the  Nation,  In  part  II,  page  24,  in 
treating  of  Convict  Labor,  is  found  the  following 
statement : — 

*'  In  this  connection  it  should  be  remembered  that  the  pro- 


STATISTICS   OF  LABOR.  317 

ducts  of  the  mechanical  industries  of  the  United  States  amount 
to  overfii-e  thousand  million  dollars  annually." 

And  on  page  25,  the  following  :  — 

"  The  examination  of  the  boot  and  shoe  interest  will  enable 
the  legislature  to  see  more  clearly  the  relation  of  the  statistics 
presented  to  other  facts  gathered  during  the  investigation. 
This  industry  is  taken  for  illustration,  because  it  is  the  largest 
in  the  State,  the  product  being  $90,000,000  per  annum." 

Both  of  these  statements  are  grossly  erroneous  — 
inexcusably  so  —  and  tend  directly  to  foster  the  most 
fatal  delusions.  The  mechanical  industries  of  the 
United  States  hardly  reach  two  thousand  million 
dollars  annually,  in  place  of  five  thousand  millions  ; 
nor  do  the  industries  of  that-  State,  which  enter  into 
the  immediate  production  of  boots  and  shoes,  equal 
$25,000,000,  in  place  of  the  $90,000,000  claimed. 

No  doubt  there  have  been  sold  in  Massachusetts 
boots  and  shoes  to  the  amount  of  $90,000,000 ;  but 
of  the  industries  that  went  into  their  production  that 
State  furnished  but  a  small  part ;  only  about  one 
fifth.  The  hides  of  which  the  leather  was  made  were 
the  product  of  the  industries  of  Texas,  and  other  dis- 
tant States  —  of  Mexico,  South  America,  Europe., 
Asia,  and  Africa.  The  industries  which  converted 
the  hides  into  leather  were  those  of  Maine,  and  other 
States  in  the  Union,  as  well  as  of  foreign  countries. 
Neither  of  these  employments  are  part  or  portion  of 
the  manufacture  of  boots  and  shoes,  as  generally  un- 
derstood, nor  as  classified  in  the  Labor  Bureau  Re- 
ports. So,  also,  of  the  thread,  cloth,  pegs,  paper, 
buttons,  etc.,  which  enter  into  the  composition  of  the 


318  LAND  AND  LABOR. 

finished  product.  Some  of  these  industries  have  their 
separate  and  distinct  headings  and  columns  in  the 
Massachusetts  and  other  reports,  and  show  large  val- 
uations, equally  fallacious  ;  because  they,  as  reported, 
include  industries  that  have  been  developed  under 
other  classifications,  and  in  other  places  ;  as  does  tho 
manufacture  of  boots  and  shoes,  as  there  reported,  in- 
clude the  industries  of  cattle  and  sheep  raising,  butch- 
ering, curing  of  hides,  tanning  and  currying,  making 
of  cloth,  thread,  pegs,  paper,  buttons,  etc.,  with  trans- 
portation by  sea  and  land,  handling  and  storage ; 
whilst,  in  reality,  not  one  of  these  employments  is 
any  portion  of  the  art  of  making  boots  and  shoes,  or 
enters  into  the  manipulations  of  the  boot  and  shoe 
manufacturers,  any  more  than  do  the  growing  of  the 
wheat,  or  manufacture  of  the  flour,  that  comes  from 
the  West,  become  a  part  of  the  industries  of  Massa- 
chusetts, because  it  is  handled,  or  resacked,  or  re- 
packed, and  shipped  to  Europe  from  the  port  of 
Boston. 

When  the  leather,  and  other  manufactured  or  pre- 
pared articles  that  enter  into  the  make  up  of  boots 
and  shoes,  are  placed  in  the  hands  of  the  manufac- 
turers, then  that  industry  commences,  and  not  before ; 
and  is  continued  until  the  finished  product  goes  into 
the  hands  of  the  wholesale  or  retail  trader.  It  is  be- 
tween these  two  points  that  the  operations  and  indus- 
try of  making  boots  and  shoes  are  confined  ;  whatever 
is  there  done,  and  nothing  more,  is  the  real  product 
of  that  industry. 

In  the  making  of  boots  and  shoes  in  that  State,  for 
the  year  ending  May,  1875,  there  were  employed  48,090 


STATISTICS  OF  LABOR.  319 

persons,  at  an  average  yearly  compensation  of  $383  44 
each,  as  appears  by  the  report  of  that  Bureau.  This 
gives  $18,439,639  as  the  value  of  the  mechanical  work 
that  was  performed  in  that  industry.  Adding  twenty 
per  cent,  to  that  amount  for  profits  and  incidentals, 
will  give  $21,727,566  as  the  utmost  real  contribution 
which  the  industry  of  boot  and  shoe  making  has  given 
to  the  productive  occupations  of  the  State,  in  place 
of  $90,000,000,  as  claimed. 

It  makes  a  very  fine  showing  to  carry  all  the  items 
separately  into  the  account,  and  then,  also,  to  add  the 
totals  as  another  item.  In  commercial  exhibits  such 
accounting  would  be  deemed  fraudulent,  and  under 
some  circumstances  become  indictable. 

So,  also,  in  textile  manufactures.  In  the  second 
volume  of  the  Massachusetts  Census  Reports,  page 
xxiii,  $136,251,783  are  given  as  the  product  of  that 
industry.  But  this  sum  includes  the  cotton,  wool, 
flax,  dyes,  dressings,  etc.,  which  are  the  products  of 
other  and  distant  peoples,  as  boot  and  shoe  making 
are  made  to  include  great  foreign  industries.  In  the 
manufacture  of  textiles,  as  reported  by  the  Labor  Bu- 
reau, there  were  employed  78,967  persons,  at  an  aver- 
age compensation  of  $320  85  per  annum.  This  gives 
$25,572,392  as  the  amount  paid  for  labor.  Adding 
twenty  per  cent,  for  profits  and  incidentals  gives 
$30,686,870  as  the  amount  that  the  textile  industries 
have  contributed  to  the  mechanical  productions  of 
that  State,  against  $136,251,783,  as  reported. 

Here  is  seen  a  reduction  of  $105,564,913  in  textiles, 
and  $67,648,226  in  boots  and  shoes  ;  an  aggregate 
dropping  of  $173,213,139,  from  the  imaginary  to  the 


320  LAND  AND  LABOR. 

real.  Leaving  for  these  two  employments,  as  their 
actual  amount  contributed  to  the  productive  indus- 
tries of  the  State,  the  sum  of  $52,414,436,  in  place 
of  $249,308,350,  as  claimed.  See  page  xxiii,  ibid. 

It  is  hardly  necessary  to  carry  the  examination  into 
other  products,  all  of  which  are  made  up  by  similar 
methods.  These  two  will  serve  to  show  the  way  in 
which  a  foundation  is  laid  for  a  statement  like  that 
found  on  page  xix,  ibid.,  as  follows  :  — 

"  By  this  recapitulation  it  is  seen  that  the  total  products  of 
the  mechanical  industries  of  the  State  are  $592,331,962,  from 
22,228  establishments,  on  a  capital  invested  of  $282,683,718." 

And  they  will  also  show  the  methods  by  which  it 
is  found  that  "the  mechanical  industries  of  the 
United  States  amount  to  five  thousand  million  dol- 
lars annually,"  when  they  really  do  not  reach  one  half 
that  sum. 

There  is  a  remarkable  swiftness  to  catch  up  these 
false  statements  and  to  enlarge  and  exaggerate  them, 
apparent  in  the  columns  of  a  great  number  of  our 
leading  metropolitan  daily  press  ;  and,  more  especial- 
ly, in  a  late  publication  of  the  great  house  of  the  Har- 
pers, in  their  "Half  Hour  Series,"  entitled,  "Labor 
and  Capital  Allies,  not  Enemies,"  by  Edward  Atkin- 
son, of  Boston.  In  this  work  the  author  not  only 
copies  and  endorses,  but  adds  to  them  other  state- 
ments equally  fictitious.  For  example,  he  says  that 
of  the  gross  product  of  the  mechanical  industries  of 
the  State,  amounting  to  $592,331,962,  as  therein 
claimed,  capitalists  receive  only  five  per  cent.,  as  ap- 
pears by  the  following  quotations :  — 


STATISTICS  OF  LABOR.  321 

"It  therefore  again  follows  that  in  the  very  first  division 
those  who  do  the  work  of  production,  either  of  the  raw  mate- 
rial or  of  the  finished  article,  must  get  ninety-five  to  ninety- 
seven  parts,  and  the  owner  of  capital  only  three  to  five.1'  — 
Page  64. 

"  In  addition  to  the  general  proof  already  given,  that,  in  re- 
spect to  the  manufactures  of  Massachusetts,  those  who  do  the 
work  now  receive  ninety-five  to  ninety-seven  per  cent.,  while 
indirectly  working  people  receive  nearly  all  the  remaining  three 
or  five  per  cent. ,  special  proof  may  be  found  in  the  considera- 
tion of  the  cotton  manufacture  of  the  United  States,  taken  as  a 
whole."  — Page  66. 

If  these  statements  mean  anything  it  is  that  of  the 
gross  product  of  $592,331,962,  as  claimed  from  the 
mechanical  industries  of  Massachusetts,  capitalists  in 
that  State  receive  not  more  than  five  per  cent.,  or 
$29,616,598,  whilst  not  less  than  ninety-five  per  cent., 
or  $562,715,364  are  there  paid  to  the  laborers  in  the 
various  mechanical  industries  ;  and  that  "indirectly 
working  people  receive  nearly  all  the  remaining  three 
to  five  per  cent.,"  the  $29,616,598  that  the  "owner 
of  capital"  had  received.  For  evidence  of  the  cor- 
rectness of  these  statements  our  author  forgot  to  refer 
to  the  wonderful  fact  that  the  unfortunate  capitalist, 
who  really  gets  nothing,  lives  in  luxury  in  a  Beacon 
street  or  Commonwealth  avenue  palace,  and  the  cor- 
respondingly great  matter  for  astonishment,  that  the 
most  fortunate  workmen,  who  get  all,  may  be  found 
starving  in  the  tenement  houses  of  the  North  End. 

With  regard  to  the  first  item  of  $29,616,598 1  have 
no  disposition  to  dispute  that  it  approximately  shows 
the  yearly  profits  derived  by  capitalists  from  the  pro- 
ductive industries  of  that  State  ;  especially  when  it  is 


322  LAND  AND  LABOR. 

stated  by  so  high  an  authority  as  the  distinguished 
author  of  "  Labor  and  Capital  Allies,  not  Enemies," 
and  representative  of  that  class  of  capitalists.  But 
the  second  item  of  $562,715,364,  being  the  "ninety- 
five  to  ninety-seven  parts  "  that  is  claimed  to  be  "  now 
received  by  those  who  do  the  work,"  is  a  gross  delu- 
sion. The  very  report  from  which  the  author  has 
drawn  his  pretended  facts  contains  the  most  abundant 
evidence  of  its  untruthfulness  ;  and  it  is  most  aston- 
ishing that  one  with  the  large  general  and  special 
business  experience  of  our  author  should  have  the 
boldness  to  publish  a  fallacy  that  is  so  transparent. 

It  has  already  been  shown  that  the  amount  paid  to 
workmen  in  the  manufacture  of  boots  and  shoes  was 
$18,439,639,  and  in  the  manufacture  of  textiles  was 
$25,572,392,  being  a  total  of  $44,012,031  for  those 
two  employments.  Textiles  and  boots  and  shoes  rep- 
resent the  product  of  very  nearly  two  fifths  of  the 
manufacturing  industries  of  that  State.  At  that  rate 
the  whole  amount  actually  "  received  by  those  who 
do  the  work,"  in  "the  manufactures  of  Massachu- 
setts," was  very  nearly  $110,000,000  in  place  of  the 
$562,715,364  claimed  by  the  author  of  "  Labor  and 
Capital  Allies,  not  Enemies,"  and  capital  received  at 
least  one  fourth  as  much  as  did  labor  in  the  whole 
transaction,  or  twenty-five  per  cent,  instead  of  five, 
as  claimed. 

Had  $562,000,000  gone  into  circulation  through 
the  workers  in  the  manufacturing  industries  in  that 
State,  as  claimed,  instead  of  the  $110,000,000  which 
approximately  represent  the  true  amount,  it  requires 
no  prophet  to  see  that  there  would  have  been  at  least 


STATISTICS  OF  LABOR.  323 

five  times  the  volume  of  trade  of  every  nature,  and 
five  times  the  profit  to  capital.  But  our  author  does 
not  see  anything  of  that  kind.  Upon  the  misrepre- 
sentation of  facts  above  shown,  and  upon  principles 
equally  baseless,  he  builds  a  superstructure  of  falla- 
cies and  sophistries,  all  tending  to  show  the  "  benefi- 
cence "  of  concentrated  capital,  cheap  labor,  and  com- 
petition. That  if  there  is  inequality  anywhere,  it  is 
in  labor  getting  too  much  ;  and  if  a  division  must  be 
made,  it  must  be  of  that  portion  received  by  labor. 
That  our  true  policy  is,  not  to  increase  the  material 
welfare  of  our  own  masses,  and  thus  improve  our  mar- 
ket at  home,  but  to  so  reduce  the  compensations  of 
our  industrial  classes  as  to  enable  the  capitalist  to 
sell  the  products  of  our  cold  and  hungry  millions  to 
the  still  more  naked  and  hungrier  masses  of  Eastern 
and  Southern  Asia,  and  famishing  Europe,  and  give 
large  profits  to  capital.  At  one  and  the  same  opera- 
tion not  only  to  impoverish  and  beggar  our  own  peo- 
ple, but  to  destroy  the  industries  of  all  other  nations. 

Mr.  Atkinson  says  that  "  the  lesson  which  is  really 

taught  by  the  condition  of  Massachusetts  is 

that  the  more  the  ric\  may  gain  in  wealth  the  more 
the  poor  may  gain  in  comfort."  —  Page  58. 

It  is  impossible  to  read  and  carefully  examine  this 
statement  without  feeling  the  utmost  astonishment  at 
its  bold  defiance  of  all  the  facts  of  history  and  "  les- 
sons" of  present  social  "conditions"  of  Massachusetts 
and  the  whole  world.  The  author  of  the  sentence 
quoted  certainly  will  not  claim  that  what  is  true  in 
his  own  State  is  false  everywhere  else  ;  nor  that  the 
truths  of  past  centuries  are  the  falsehoods  of  to-day. 


324  LAND  AND  LABOR. 

If  there  is  one  social  lesson,  in  all  history,  taught 
with  greater  emphasis  than  any  or  all  others,  it  is 
that  whenever  and  wherever  the  rich  have  made  their 
greatest  gains  in  wealth  and  power,  there  have  the 
poor  correspondingly  lost  in  comfort  and  sunk  into 
wretchedness.  Every  historian,  ancient  and  modern, 
who  has  traced  the  causes  and  marked  the  steps  in 
the  decline  and  destruction  of  the  Koman  empire,  has 
placed  the  growth  of  wealth  in  the  ruling  classes,  and 
the  increase  in  poverty  among  the  masses,  as  the  most 
powerful  of  all.  The  history  of  every  other  nation 
adds  its  testimony  to  the  same  effect.  And  so  it  is 
to-day  in  every  nation  on  earth.  In  no  country  can 
stronger  evidence  of  the  fallacy  of  Mr.  Atkinson's 
statement  be  found  than  in  our  own. 

In  illustration  of  how  the  poor  gain  in  comfort  as 
the  rich  gain  in  wealth,  I  quote  the  following  from 
the  daily  press  :  — 

"VIOLENT  CONTBASTS  IN  LIFE. 

"  Ned  Stokes'  bar  [in  New  York  City],  it  is  said,  takes  in  $200 
to  $300  per  day  (or  rather  night),  as  it  is  patronized  by  a  crowd 
of  fast  fellows  who  drink  nothing  but  high  priced  liquors.  A 
dinner  at  Delmonico's  and  Pinard's  can  be  had  at  from  $5  to 
$40  per  guest,  according  to  the  bill  of  fare  and  the  wine  list.  A 
number  of  dinner  parties  have  been  given  during  the  past  season 
at  the  Fifth  Avenue  in  which  $200  were  expended  in  flowers 
alone.  How  easy  to  pay  such  bills  when  one's  income  is  $1,000 
'lay,  and  this  is  not  a  large  figure  among  our  capitalists; 
l.ut  just  look  at  the  other  side  of  social  life. 

"  Four  women  were  arraigned  in  the  police  court  for  selling 
vegetables  and  matches  in  baskets  in  the  streets.  One  of  the 
muntor  saifl  she  was  a  widow  with  two  children,  and  that  this 
was  their  only  support.  The  magistrate  replied  that  as  it  was 


STATISTICS  OF  LABOR.  325 

a  violation  of  law  he  was  obliged  to  fine  them  $10  apiece,  and 
as  they  were  conveyed  to  the  prison  one  of  them  fainted.  Such 
contrasts  may  be  found  daily. 

u  Speaking  of  incomes,  Moses  Taylor  is  rated  $400,000  a  year. 
He  has  no  sons  and  his  daughters  are  all  married.  Ex-Governor 
Morgan  is  estimated  at  $500,000  a  year.  Russell  Sage  is  rated 
at  a  million  to  a  million  and  a  half,  while  Jay  Gould's  income 
can  not  be  less  than  half  a  dozen  millions.  To  come  down  to 
smaller  men,  R.  L.  Stewart  has  nearly  a  million  a  year,  while 
Robert  and  Ogden  Goelet  are  each  rated  at  $250,000.  Bennett 
is  reckoned  at  $600,000.  D.  O.  Mills  figures  at  $200,000,  and 
the  young  Vanderbilts  (Wni.  K.  and  Cornelius)  are  not  much 
below  him.  The  estate  of  A.  T.  Stewart  &  Co.  has  an  income 
of  a  million,  which  renders  Cornelia  Stewart  the  richest  widow 
in  America.  The  Astors  (John  Jacob  and  William)  are  esti- 
mated each  at  a  million  and  a  half,  while  Wm.  H.  Vanderbilt 
probably  has  five  times  that  sum  ;  and  yet  within  five  minutes' 
walk  of  the  place  where  these  men  live  one  can  find  multitudes 
whose  life  is  but  a  prolonged  battle  with  famine."  —  New  York 
Correspondent  Troy  Times. 

The  picture  here  drawn  of  the  conditions  existing 
in  New  York  are  in  no  respect  exaggerated,  and  por- 
tray in  the  most  vivid  colors  the  way  "  that  the  more 
the  rich  may  gain  in  wealth  the  more  the  poor  may 
gain  in  comfort."  But  it  is  not  necessary  for  the 
author  of  that  statement  to  travel  out  of  his  own  city 
of  Boston  for  abundant  evidence  of  his  bold  defiance 
of  truth.  Let  him  compare  Commonwealth  Avenue, 
the  whole  Back  Bay,  with  the  South  Cove,  North 
Square,  and  the  whole  of  the  North  End.  If  that 
will  not  suffice,  then  a  careful  examination  of  the 
report  of  the  superintendent  of  the  institution  for 
the  shelter  of  poor  working  girls,  who  declares  that 
the  great  increase  in  the  number  of  young  women  who 


326  LAND  AND  LABOR. 

are  driven  to  prostitution  in  that  city,  because  of  low 
wages,  is  most  disheartening,  may  possibly  enable 
him  to  find  another  "  lesson  which  is  really  taught 
by  the  condition  of  Massachusetts."  The  lesson 
taught  by  the  cities  of  New  York  and  Boston  is 
preached  by  every  city,  town,  and  hamlet  in  the 
country.  The  lesson  is  universal  ;  and  it  would  be 
in  the  exercise  of  the  greatest  charity  if  one  could 
come  to  the  conclusion  that  when  the  author  of  "  La- 
bor and  Capital  Allies,  not  Enemies,"  wrote  that  sen- 
tence he  was  trying  to  formulate  a  ghastly  sarcasm. 

But  there  is  no  mistaking  the  lesson  that  the  au- 
thor of  that  little  volume  is  trying  to  teach  ;  and 
that  is,  that  the  earth  and  all  that  it  contains  was 
created  and  exists  for  the  exclusive  enjoyment  of  the 
rich,  and  that  the  poor  live  only  to  add  to  their 
pleasures.  Upon  the  evidence  furnished  by  Mr.  At- 
kinson's essay  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  "  under  the 
beneficent  action  of  competition  "  Capital  and  Cheap 
Labor  have  become  Active  Allies  in  the  work  of  de- 
stroying all  the  industries  of  the  people  and  crushing 
of  the  foundations  of  society. 

But  to  return  to  the  consideration  of  the  Labor 
Bureau  reports,  and  in  view  of  the  above  exhibits  of 
the  way  grand  results  are  reached  by  the  most  ex- 
traordinary methods,  it  is  sickening  to  read  paeans 
like  the  following,  on  page  xviii,  ibid.  :  — 

'•  In  the  light  of  the  hard  and  unanswerable  arguments  of  facts 
as  evidenced  herein,  our  anxiety  for  the  future,  industrially,  of 
Massachusetts  must  be  allayed.  Our  great  industries  are  built 
upon  too  firm  a  foundation  to  be  toppled  over  by  any  epheme- 
ral, speculative  schemes." 


STATISTICS  OF  LABOR.  ,'}J7 

The  answer  to  this  prean  is  found  in  the  examina- 
tion here  made,  and  heard  in  the  cry  that  comes  up 
from  every  industry  and  interest.  On  page  24  I  find 
the  following  :  — 

"In  reality  the  wa^es  paid  for  prison  labor  —  $1,624,515  per 
annum  —  represent  a  product  of  $9,747,090,  or  less  than  one 
fifth  of  one  per  cent,  of  the  products  of  the  United  States." 

A  clear  net  product  of  $8,122,575  from  labor  which 
costs  only  $1,624,515,  appears  to  the  ordinary  reader 
a  most  excellent  thing.  But  the  trouble  is,  the  state- 
ment is  deceptive,  not  possessing  one  element  of  fact. 

So,  also,  on  page  26,  the  following  is  found  :  - 

"  The  product  of  each  person  employed  in  the  manufacture 
of  boots  and  shoes  in  Massachusetts  is  $1,858  per  year;  that  is, 
48,090  operatives  —  the  number  of  persons  so  employed  in  1875 
—  produced  $89,375,792  worth  of  goods." 

The  product  of  each  person  employed  in  the  manu- 
facture of  boots  and  shoes  in  Massachusetts,  is  not 
$1,858  per  year,  as  has  been  already  shown.  Yet  the 
statement  is  continually  appearing  and  reappearing, 
with  similar  misrepresentations  touching  other  prod- 
ucts, throughout  the  reports  of  that  State,  and  in 
many  other  authoritative  places  and  forms. 

It  is  well  to  commend  to  these  popular  statisticians 
a  more  careful  study  of  that  maxim  of  Napoleon's, 
quoted  on  page  xviii,  vol.  II,  Massachusetts  Census 
Reports,  1875,  as  follows  :  — 

"  Statistics  mean  the  keeping  of  an  exact  account  of  a  na- 
tion's affairs,  and  without  such  an  account  there  is  no  safety." 

There  is  one  other  point  in  the  Tenth  Annual  Re- 


328  LAND  AND  LABOR. 

port  that  I  wish  to  examine.     On  page  27  is  found 
the  following  suggestive  statement :  — 

"  One  large  manufacturer  stated  that  lie  had  at  one  time  be- 
lieved that  prison  labor  must,  of  necessity,  injure  outside  labor. 
He  knew,  he  said,  that  Rice  &  Hutchings  had  the  labor  of  100 
prisoners  in  the  State  Prison  for  40  cents  a  day  —  a  very  small 
sum  to  pay  for  labor,  and  at  first  glance  would  seem  to  give 
them  great  advantage ;  but  the  great  drawback  is,  that,  by  the 
terms  of  their  contract,  they  were  obliged  to  pay  their  men  all 
the  year  round,  whether  they  are  employed  or  not." 

If  forty  cents  a  day,  for  the  year  round,  amounting 
to  $123  20  per  annum,  is  the  great  drawback  upon 
the  employment  of  prison  labor,  pray  what  must  be 
the  yearly  wages»of  the  average  boot  and  shoemaker 
when  out  of  prison  ?  Certainly  it  can  not  be  so  large 
as  to  change  the  well  known  fact  that  free  labor  is 
cheaper  than  slave,  because,  in  the  case  of  the  slave, 
he  is  guaranteed  his  subsistence  from  year  to  year  for 
the  work  he  does ;  but  the  free  man,  under  present 
conditions,  has  no  such  assurance. 

Then  upon  the  point  of  the  insignificance  of  the  ef- 
fect which  the  competition  of  13,186  persons  working 
in  prison,  at  forty  cents  a  day,  has  upon  the  work  of 
those  outside,  as  stated  on  page  24,  I  quote  the  effect 
of  competition  as  shown  in  the  agricultural  volume 
of  United  States  Census  Keports,  1860,  as  follows  :- 

"  As  long  as  we  continue  to  export  wheat,  no  matter  to  how 
small  an  extent,  the  price  in  Europe  will  regulate  the  price  in 
this  country.  The  price  obtained  in  England  for  the  295,241 
l>u>h(?lsof  wheat  which  we  exported  in  1859  determined  the 
price  of  our  whole  crop  of  over  173,000,000  of  bushels  raised 
that  year.  The  price  of  the  one  and  three  fourths  bushels  <  \- 


STATISTICS  OF  LABOR.  329 

ported  fixed  the  price  of  the  thousand  bushels  consumed  at 
home." 

Perhaps  there  is  no  more  deplorable  feature  con- 
nected with  the  present  distressed  condition  of  our 
industries,  and  demoralization  of  trade,  than  is  the 
favor  with  which  any  fallacy,  sophistry,  or  misrepre- 
sentation of  the  matter,  or  any  attendant  fact,  is  re- 
ceived by  those  who  are  popularly  esteemed  the  most 
intelligent  and  "  well  to  do  "  classes,  and  the  exceed- 
ing disfavor  shown  towards  any  attempt  to  truthfully 
examine  the  real  facts,  and  show  actual  conditions. 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

WHAT   SHALL   WE   DO  ? 

IT  has  been  shown  in  these  pages  that  for  more  than 
fifty  years  there  has  been  in  our  country  a  con- 
stant and  rapid  development  of  a  power  that  is  irre- 
sistibly undermining  the  demand  that,  for  all  time 
before,  has  existed  for  such  employment  of  man's 
muscular  force  in  this  country  as  would  guarantee  to 
him  at  least  his  bodily  subsistence. 

It  has  also  been  shown  that  at  this  time  that  power 
has  reached  a  development  that  practically  throws  into 
idleness  at  least  one  half  of  the  working  force  that 
found  full  employment  previous  to  1830,  and  that 
industrial  demoralization  and  distress  is  seen  in  every 
quarter. 

It  has  also  been  shown  that  this  power  has  attacked 
the  agricultural  interests  of  the  country  with  a  force 
that  has  already  broken  up  and  destroyed  many  of  the 
small  farms  and  homesteads  of  the  people,  and  is  mov- 
ing on  in  that  direction  with  alarming  rapidity.  That 
in  their  place  monopolists  have  seized  upon  the  lands 
in  vast  tracts,  and  have  converted  them  into  gigantic 
food  factories,  worked  by  machinery  and  laborers, 
without  fixed  population  —  without  women,  or  chil- 

330 


WHAT  SHALL    WE  DO?  331 

(Iron  —  or  converted  their  great  estates  into  tenant 
farms  peopled  by  feudal  slaves. 

It  has  also  been  shown  that  whilst  the  people  arc 
being  driven  from  the  farms,  and  vast  areas  of  terri- 
tory are  barred  to  population,  our  towns  and  cities 
are  crowded  with  hungry,  naked,  houseless  multi- 
tudes, without  employment,  without  hope,  and  sink- 
ing deeper  and  deeper  into  the  abyss  qf  despair  and 
crime. 

It  has  also  been  shown  that  the  constant  struggle 
of  the  idle  for  work,  causes  an  irrepressible  conflict 
and  competition  between  the  employed  and  the  idle, 
which  tends  directly  to  add  to  the  ranks  of  the  latter, 
the  reduction  of  wages,  and  the  increase  of  the  general 
distress. 

And  it  has  been  shown  that  as  the  idleness  has  in- 
creased, and  the  demand  for  work  has  grown  more 
importunate,  that  monopolies  have  developed  in  every 
direction,  and  the  tyranny  of  capital  has  become  more 
despotic.  That  whilst  labor  has  become  more  and 
more  disunited,  and  weaker  and  weaker,  capital  has 
steadily  gained  in  consolidation  and  power. 

How  have  the  industrial  classes,  the  workingmen, 
those  who  should  be  the  real  rulers  of  the  country, 
met  the  development  of  this  great  power,  and  the 
evils  which  have  grown  out  of  it  ?  What  have  they 
done  to  avert  the  threatened  catastrophe  that  is  al- 
ready upon  us  ?  or,  better  still,  to  so  direct  and  guide 
the  growth  of  this  power  as  to  derive  from  it  the 
greatest  possible  benefits  ? 

In  the  matter  of  guidance  nothing  has  been  at- 
tempted, and  every  step  that  has  been  taken  to 


332  LAND  AND  LABOR. 

escape  the  effects  of  this  overwhelming  development 
has  been  in  the  direction  of  proscription,  monopoly, 
and  strikes,  that  have  only  served  to  aggravate  the 
evils  that  have  been  so  rapidly  growing. 

The  first  notable  move  made  by  the  workingmen, 
when  this  power  was  first  felt,  were  in  the  organiza- 
tion of  unions  that  limited  the  number  of  apprentices 
who  should  learn  trades,  prescribing  the  number  of 
boys  who  should  be  employed  in  shops  and  factories, 
and  proscribing  the  employers  who  attempted  to  teach 
a  greater  number. 

Here  was  the  beginning  of  that  unreasoning  and 
heartless  monopoly  that  attempts  to  seize  and  hold 
all  the  work,  and  to  deny  to  a  portion  of  their  fellow 
men  the  equal  and  God  given  right  and  obligation, 
which  rests  upon  all,  to  labor  for  their  daily  bread  — 
that  says  to  a  parent  that  his  child  shall  not  be  taught 
a  trade,  nor  acquire  a  profession  by  which  he  may  earn 
a  subsistence,  but  shall  go  out  into  the  world  unpre- 
pared for  its  duties  and  fitted  for  vagabondage  only. 
Here  was  the  commencement  of  that  tyranny  of  the 
workingmen  over  their  fellows  that  has  resulted  in 
converting  one  moiety  of  that  class  who  are  dependent 
upon  labor  for  the  means  of  life  and  its  comforts,  into 
the  veriest  slaves,  who  toil  from  ten  to  eighteen  hours 
,'i  day  for  the  most  scanty  subsistence,  and  the  other 
half  into  paupers,  tramps,  and  criminals.  Of  all  the 
monopolies  and  tyrannies  of  capital  there  is  not  one 
that  equals  the  suicidal  selfishness  of  the  workingmen. 
These  measures  and  methods  of  proscription  and  mo- 
nopoly have  continued  to  the  present  time.  Out  of 
them  have  grown  the  armies  of  unskilled  laborers  in 


WHAT  SHALL    WE  DO?  333 

the  country — men  who  do  not  know  how  to  work  — 
and  the  consequent  evils  that  find  no  mitigation  in 
the  benefits  vainly  hoped  to  be  derived  by  the  pro- 
scribers  and  their  unions. 

The  next  step  was  the  use  of  labor  organizations  in 
dictating  who  should  be  employed  and  the  wages  that 
should  be  paid  ;  compelling  the  whole  body  of  work- 
men, in  any  given  trade,  or  in  several  trades,  to  strike 
-to  abandon  their  work  —  at  the  command  of  a  few 
unreasoning,  hot  headed  leaders,  and  against  the 
counsel  of  the  more  prudent  and  thoughtful,  often 
without  cause  or  reason,  throwing  hundreds  and  thou- 
sands into  idleness  and  distress,  and  bringing  hunger, 
nakedness,  and  want  in  every  form  upon  multitudes 
of  helpless  women  and  children.  These  methods  of 
proscription  and  monopoly,  coupled  with  riot,  violence, 
and  destruction,  are  the  only  measures  that  have  been 
relied  upon  to  arrest  the  evils  by  which  the  working- 
men  are  surrounded.  Every  succeeding  year  has 
brought  with  it  a  repetition  of  the  past,  differing 
only  in  a  less  show  of  strength,  and  increasing  dis- 
couragement and  loss  of  hope.  Year  after  year  the 
labor  strikes  are  followed  by  a  greater  development 
of  idleness,  the  generally  increasing  weakness  and  pov- 
verty  of  the  laborers,  a  greater  distress  of  the  masses, 
but  with  a  rapid  growth  and  power  of  combinations 
of  capital  and  gigantic  monopolies  that  are  truly 
alarming.  So  evident  are  these  matters  that  they 
have  begun  to  attract  attention  in  quarters  where  the 
most  persistent  blindness  has  heretofore  prevailed,  as 
shown  by  the  following  item,  found  in  the  New  York 
Tribune  of  April  7,  1883  :  — 


334  LAND  AND  LABOR. 

"A  publicist  of  large  experience  and  recognized  ability  gives, 
in  a  private  letter,  this  significant  warning:  —  'The  great  mass 
of  the  people  are  not  prosperous.  There  is  unrest  among  not 
only  the  lower  classes,  but  the  middle  classes  also.  The  con- 
centration of  capital  and  the  rapidly  acquired  fortunes  and 
unwise  display  of  them  by  the  few,  are  creating  dissatisfaction 
among  the  many,  which  will  manifest  itself  whenever  there  is  a 
decided  change  in  the  condition  of  the  country,  in  a  manner 
that  will  try  the  strength  of  republican  institutions  as  it  has 
never  yet  been  tried.  The  danger  then  will  not  be  from  blatant 
and  lazy  revolutionists,  but  from  men  of  an  altogether  different 
type.  The  experiment  of  manhood  suffrage  has  not  yet  been 
worked  out.'" 

During  the  fifty  years  in  which,  these  methods  have 
been  employed  practically  one  half  of  the  working 
force  of  the  people  has  been  thrown  into  idleness,  a 
large  portion  as  unskilled  labor,  and  become  a  power 
that  is  constantly  at  war  with  those  who  are  em- 
ployed, and  by  their  competition  are  compelling  an 
inevitable  reduction  in  wages.  To  this  army  of  the 
idle  constant  accessions  are  being  made  from  among 
those  who  were  but  recently  at  work,  caused,  by  the 
more  active  operation  of  the  forces  that  first  created 
the  idleness.  At  the  same  time  the  centralizing 
power  of  the  monopoly  of  capital  has  become  a  ty- 
ranny that  is  overwhelming.  The  increase  in  all  these 
developments  has  never  been  so  rapid  as  within  the 
decade. 

It  has  also  been  shown  that  where,  fifty  years  ago, 
it  was  truthfully  said  that  every  man  owned  the  soil 
he  cultivated,  to-day  we  have  between  one  and  two 
millions  of  tenant  farmers.  A  half  century  of  the 
methods  pointed  out  has  resulted  in  placing  the  land 


WHAT  SHALL  WE  DO?  335 

and  farm  interests  in  our  country  in  a  worse  condition 
than  are  those  interests  in  Great  Britain,  after  a  feu- 
dal land  tenure  of  more  than  ten  centuries. 

The  development  of  large  land  holdings,  through 
the  railroad  grants,  is  marvellous  and  sinks  into  little- 
ness the  holdings  of  England  j  running,  as  those  in 
our  country  do,  from  tens  into  hundreds  of  thousands 
and  millions  of  acres,  with  single  grain  and  cattle 
farms  of  hundreds  of  square  miles  in  extent.  These 
holdings  and  farms  are  scattered  throughout  the 
country  and  numbered  by  thousands.  More  than 
this  :  quite  one  half  of  the  small  farmers  in  our  coun- 
try, who  hold  the  titles  to  the  lands  they  cultivate, 
have  a  merely  nominal  interest  in  the  land  they  occu- 
py ;  the  mortgages  and  other  liens  held  by  capitalists 
making  it  only  a  question  of  time  and  the  payment 
of  interest  when  the  titles  shall  be  changed. 

Within  the  same  period  of  time  monopoly  has  seized 
upon  and  holds  all  the  highways  of  the  nation,  impos- 
ing arbitrary  taxation  upon  society  for  every  service 
rendered,  whether  the  carrying  of  the  mails  or  the 
transportation  of  the  produce  of  the  soil  or  any  other 
industry,  or  of  passengers.  So  in  every  other  manner 
capital  has  made  a  successful  application  of  the  prin- 
ciples of  tyrannous  monopoly,  first  adopted  by  the 
laborer  against  his  own  brethren  and  children.,  Where 
the  workingmen,  because  of  their  overwhelming  nu- 
merical preponderance,  had  and  still  have  the  abso- 
lute power  to  control  all  the  material  conditions  of 
progress,  and  so  direct  them  as  to  be  of  the  utmost 
benefit  to  themselves  and  to  society  in  general,  they 
have,  by  disunion,  proscription,  violence,  a  narrow 


336  LAND  AND  LABOR. 

minded  selfishness  and  unreason,  madly  thrown  away 
their  great  opportunities  and  become  weaker  and 
weaker ;  whilst  the  capitalists,  insignificant  in  num- 
bers, but  powerful  in  unity  and  wise  in  their  methods, 
have  as  surely  increased  in  strength,  and  never  more 
rapidly  than  at  the  present  time. 

The  workmen  have  literally  forged  and  placed  upon 
their  own  limbs  the  shackles  that  bind  them  and  so- 
ciety prostrate  before  the  monopolists  of  capital. 

During  the  past  summer  we  have  had  forced  upon 
our  attention  the  fact  of  strikes  of  gigantic  propor- 
tions, said,  by  intelligent  observers,  to  include  more 
than  one  hundred  thousand  workmen,  ,a  large  portion 
of  whom  were  among  the  best  paid  of  all  the  skilled 
laborers  in  the  United  States. 

The  average  wages  of  these  strikers,  before  the 
strike,  was  not  less  than  one  dollar  and  fifty  cents  a 
day  ;  but  we  will  call  it  one  dollar  only.  This  will 
give  a  loss  to  the  strikers  of  one  hundred  thousand 
dollars  for  every  day  the  strike  continued.  There  was 
a  continuance  of  at  least  fifty  working  days,  which 
means  a  loss  to  these  men  and  their  families  of  at 
least  five  million  dollars.  Who  can  estimate  the  dis- 
tress thus  brought  upon  these  people  and  their  de- 
pendants ?  The  mere  money  loss  alone  to  the  strikers 
can  never  be  recovered,  and  the  increased  weakness  of 
the  workmen  is  very  manifest.  But  there  are  at  least 
two  other  classes  who  also  suffered  from  the  same 
cause,  and  to  nearly  an  equal  extent.  The  producers 
of  all  the  necessaries  and  comforts  of  life  which  went 
into  the  sustenance  of  the  strikers  when  at  work, 
found  the  demand  and  market  of  their  products  lim- 


WHAT  SHALL   WE  DO?  337 

itcd  to  the  extent  of  the  diminished  ability  of  the 
workmen  to  buy  and  consume,  which  must  have  been 
to  the  amount  of  five  millions  of  dollars,  or  the  sum 
of  the  wages  lost ;  and  the  transporter,  trader,  and 
merchant,  suffered  to  an  equal  amount  in  their  respec- 
tive businesses.  If  the  suffering  which  grows  out  of 
strikes  could  be  confined  to  the  immediate  strikers, 
all  the  undeserved  misery  thus  brought  upon  society 
would  be  averted.  But  it  can  not.  The  loss  and  de- 
moralization thus  inflicted  reacts  upon  the  interests 
of  all.  These  evils  are  of  the  most  serious  character, 
and  the  hatred  and  bitterness  engendered  and  perpet- 
uated among  the  members  of  society  by  strikes  and 
proscriptions  seriously  complicate  the  solution  of  the 
industrial  problem. 

Had  the  industrial  development  of  the  last  fifty 
years  been  directed  by  some  infernal  power,  with  the 
design  of  working  upon  the  laborers,  and  society  in 
general,  the  greatest  possible  amount  of  injury,  no 
more  effective  methods  could  have  been  adopted  than 
those  that  are  now,  and  have  long  been,  in  use  by  the 
workingmen. 

That  the  workingmen  have  suffered  ;  that  their 
sufferings  are  constantly  increasing,  and  are  now 
greater  than  ever  before,  no  one  can  successfully 
deny.  That  when  they  find  themselves  being  hurt, 
and  their  families  in  distress,  they  should  struggle 
and  attempt  to  strike  down  and  destroy  the  object 
that  gives  them  pain,  is  to  be  expected,  and  proper 
to  be  done.  But  in  the  insane  struggles  which  they 
make,  and  the  blows  which  they  so  liberally  shower 
about  them,  they  never  touch  the  causes  of  their 


338  LAND  AND  LABOR. 

distress  ;  their  wrath  is  not  felt  by  those  who  have 
made  them  suffer.  Their  blows  fall  upon  themselves 
and  their  families  ;  their  anger  is  felt  only  by  their 
wives,  their  children,  and  their  nearest  friends.  They 
are  made  to  go  hungry,  to  be  without  fuel  or  clothing, 
and  suffer  all  the  miseries  of  destitution  and  idleness, 
whilst  the  capitalist,  against  whom  they  wish  to  wreak 
their  vengeance,  is  never  touched ;  nor  does  he  suffer 
anything  more  than  a  slight  inconvenience,  which  is 
amply  compensated  in  the  greater  weakness  of  his 
workmen  that  is  sure  to  follow,  soon  or  late,  and  the 
greater  demands  that  he  may  soon  enforce. 

But  for  the  workingman  there  is  no  retrieval,  no 
compensation  ;  what  he  has  lost  is  gone  forever.  All 
that  he  has  gained  is  on  the  side  of  greater  weakness, 
greater  competition,  less  of  the  necessaries  of  life,  and 
more  of  its  miseries.  The  industrial  history  of  the 
last  fifty  years,  with  the  workmen  relying  solely  upon 
proscription,  monopoly,  strikes,  and  violence  for  pro- 
tection and  comfort,  is  a  long  list  of  disasters  and 
story  of  continuous  failures.  The  weapons  that  they 
have  used  are  the  boomerangs  of  self  destruction. 
They  will  not  protect,  and  much  less  can  they  be 
made  to  build  up  and  improve. 

Manifestly,  the  experience  of  the  last  half  century 
has  incontestably  demonstrated  one  fact,  and  that  is, 
that  proscription,  monopoly,  strikes,  terrorism,  and 
violence  are  not  the  weapons  with  which  to  right  the 
wrongs  of  labor.  But  none  others  have  yet  been  used. 

Is  it  not  time  that  new  weapons  should  be  adopted, 
and  new  methods  introduced  ?  But  the  present  indi- 
cations are  that  the  new  season  we  are  entering  upon 


WHAT  SHALL   WE  DO?  339 

will  be  a  repetition  of  the  past.  Will  not  the  work- 
ingmen  of  the  country  learn  anything  from  the  bitter 
experiences  they  have  passed  through,  and  abandon 
the  methods  that  have  been  so  uniformly  followed  by 
the  ultimate  failure  of  all  their  efforts  ?  But  the 
great  evils  by  which  we  are  surrounded,  and  that  are 
destroying  the  foundations  of  society,  can  be  removed 
by  the  workingmen  only.  They  form  the  large  ma- 
jority of  its  members,  and  in  our  country  they  are  all 
powerful.  Still  it  is  only  by  absolutely  united  action 
that  the  workingmen  can  accomplish  any  good.  By 
disunion  they  may  achieve  any  amount  of  evil.  The 
enemy  they  have  to  contend  against,  though  few  in 
numbers  are  strong  in  position  and  possession  of  great 
capital.  Nevertheless,  before  the  united  workingmen 
of  the  country,  seeking  really  national  objects  and 
noble  ends,  by  methods  that  are  just  and  in  harmony 
with  the  institutions  under  which  we  live,  the  tyranny 
of  capital  will  end.  The  workingmen  will  also  draw 
to  their  support  a  very  large  part  of  the  best  thought 
and  intelligence  of  the  country,  that  will  be  sure  to 
keep  even  step  with  the  labor  of  society  in  its  attack 
upon  the  enemies  of  humanity  and  progress. 

Therefore,  the  first  indispensable  requisite  is  union 
in  its  fullest  and  best  sense.  There  must  be  in  l;he 
work  complete  harmony  between  workingmen  of  all 
classes  and  conditions  —  society  men  and  nonsociety 
men  —  for  the  common  objects  of  reformation  and 
improvement.  Without  such  union  no  good  can  be 
effected.  It  is  not  necessary  that  any  organization 
should  be  abandoned.  Through  them  the  best  work 
can  be  done,  and  the  organizations  should  be  strength- 


340  LAND  AND  LABOR. 

ened  so  far  as  is  possible.  But  proscription  must  cease, 
and  strikes  must  end.  It  is  absolute  union  that  must 
be  obtained  to  rescue  society  from  impending  disaster. 

There  are  those  now  acting  with,  and  to  a  great 
extent  directing  the  operations  of  the  principal  labor 
organizations  who  can  easily  bring  about  the  union  so 
indispensable,  if  they  so  desire,  and  upon  their  heads 
will  rest  the  responsibility  of  failure  if  united  action 
is  not  obtained.  It  would  not  be  difficult  to  find 
twenty-five  men  in  those  organizations,  who  can,  if 
they  will,  by  their  position  and  great  influence,  start 
a  movement  that  will  unite  all  the  workingmen  in  a 
great  reform  crusade,  and  bring  to  its  support  much 
the  larger  part  of  the  best  thought  and  patriotism  of 
the  country,  and  thus  within  -a  very  short  time  make 
effective  the  necessary  measures  for  protection  and 
improvement  in  every  interest.  There  are  even  ten 
men  now  working  in  the  labor  agitations  who  can  with 
the  greatest  ease  set  the  desired  movement  into  such 
action  as  will  be  sure  to  rapidly  increase  in  strength 
and  command  the  most  perfect  success. 

Without  a  commencement  that  shall  come  directly 
from  the  workingmen  themselves,  or  that  shall  receive 
their  cordial  support,  if  started  by  others  —  the  first 
object  being  to  secure  the  most  perfect  union,  and  the 
next  the  adoption  of  the  measures  that  will  be  the 
most  effective  for  the  cure  of  the  evils  under  which  we 
suffer  —  no  good  can  be  effected ;  and  society  must 
drift  on  to  sure  destruction. 

Having  set  in  motion  the  machinery  for  united  ac- 
tion, it  becomes  of  the  highest  importance  to  deter- 
mine what  are  the  measures  required  to  cure  the  great 


WHAT  SHALL  WE  DO?  341 

evils  by  which  we  are  now  surrounded,  and  prevent 
their  revival  ;  and,  also,  so  far  as  practicable,  to  ren- 
der impossible  the  growth  of  other  evils  in  place  of 
those  that  may  be  destroyed.  The  measures  must  be 
national,  equally  affecting  the  people  in  all  parts  of 
the  country.  They  must  be  general  in  their  character 
and  operation,  and  such  as  will  command  the  approval 
of  all  who  desire  the  welfare  and  advancement  of  the 
people  of  our  country.  Among  those  that  appear  to 
be  necessary,  are  :  — 

First.  —  The  redistribution  of  labor  among  all,  that 
all  may  live. 

Second.  —  The  restoration  of  the  lands  to  the  peo- 
ple, and  their  bona  fide  occupancy,  by  the  people, 
under  the  provisions  of  the  homestead  laws. 

Third.  —  The  breaking  up  and  wiping  out  of  every 
vestige  of  all  systems  of  tenant  farming. 

Fourth.  —  The  at  least  double  taxation  of  all  un- 
improved lands,  rated  at  the  real  market  values,  to 
the  end  that  all  speculators  in  the  lands  shall  pay  for 
the  privilege  of  holding  them  without  improvement, 
and  thus  preying  upon  the  wants  of  society  ;  and  also 
to  compel  those  speculators  and  gamblers  to  bear  their 
share  of  the  burdens  and  protection  of  government, 
which  they  have  heretofore  escaped,  and  to  thus  offer 
a  premium  for  the  lonafide  occupation  and  improve- 
ments of  the  property  of  the  nation. 

Fifth.  —  To  bring  the  highways  of  the  nation  under 
the  supervision  and  protection  of  the  government. 

Sixth.  —  To  compel  the  equal  division  of  estates 
among  all  the  natural  heirs  ;  thus  preventing  the 
accumulation  and  transmission  of  great  estates  in 


342  LAND  AND  LABOR. 

single  hands,  and  guaranteeing  equity  to  all  the  mem- 
bers in  every  family. 

These  measures  have  been  sufficiently  discussed  in 
this  volume  to  show  their  importance,  and  how  near 
the  foundations  of  a  truly  republican  government  they 
lie,  in  contrast  with  the  feudal  institutions  under  which 
we  have  been  struggling  to  develop,  and  which  they 
should  replace. 

But  to  make  the  consideration  and  adoption  of 
these,  or  any  other  measures,  effective  before  the 
people,  a  Central  Council  of  representative  men  from 
the  leading  labor  organizations,  should  be  founded, 
who  should  invite  into  the  council  an  eminent  repre- 
sentation of  the  influential,  intelligent,  and  best  edu- 
cated mind  of  the  country  —  not  politicians  —  to  take 
part  in  and  decide  upon  all  measures  for  the  guidance 
of  action  and  adoption  of  means  to  effect  the  reforms 
that  must  be  had.  Such  a  council  may  be  so  organ- 
ized as  to  wield  an  influence  of  the  highest  power,  and 
become  of  the  utmost  benefit. 

The  work  to  be  done  must  be  sustained  by  the  peo- 
ple. The  propaganda  undertaken  will  create  very  con- 
siderable expense,  and  the  workingraen  are  abundantly 
able  to  meet  all  such  charges.  When  once  under  way 
it  would  doubtless  receive  material  support  from  other 
sources  ;  but  the  people  should  provide  for  and  lay  the 
foundation.  It  was  the  power  of  Peter's  pence  that 
started  the  crusades  of  the  middle  ages,  and  tested  the 
Moslem  power  in  Palestine.  Even  so  the  dimes  of  the 
workingmen  of  this  nineteenth  century  in  the  United 
States  can  shatter  the  power  of  the  dollars  of  her  plu- 
tocrats. The  expenditure  of  millions,  through  strikes, 


WHAT  SHALL   WE  DO  f  343 

have  brought  no  good  ;  but  a  few  thousands,  for  the 
objects  proposed  in  this  volume,  contributed  by  the 
workingmen  of  the  country,  to  the  amount  of  one 
dime  each  week,  with  their  ballots  to  sustain  the  con- 
tributions, would  be  the  beginning  of  a  new  era  for 
the  relief  and  comfort  of  labor. 

It  would  open  a  new  page  in  the  world's  history, 
upon  which  would  be  written,  not  the  old,  old  story, 
that  the  masses  of  the  people  had  destroyed  another 
nation ;  that  the  workingmen  of  the  United  States 
had  pulled  down  the  institutions  of  that  country, 
even  under  the  most  bitter  provocations.  But  a  new 
tale  would  be  placed  on  record,  for  the  guidance  of 
coming  ages  —  that  the  workingmen  of  our  country 
had  destroyed  the  instruments  of  social  and  industrial 
oppression  bequeathed  by  our  fathers,  whilst  preserv- 
ing all  that  was  good,  and  lifted  society  to  the  highest 
plane  of  human  development. 

Whatever  final  and  effective  measures  are  obtained 
must  be  through  the  operation  of  legislation,  which 
will  necessitate  political  action.  Any  attempt  to 
create  a  new  party  would  in  all  probability  prove  a 
failure  ;  it  would  certainly  bring  the  movement  into 
antagonism  with  both  the  great  political  parties  of 
to-day,  and  surely  be  the  cause  of  dangerous  delays. 
A  new  political  organization  is  of  very  doubtful  policy. 
But  the  adoption,  by  the  Council  suggested,  of  the 
measures  herein  proposed,  or  their  formulation  of 
others  that  would  better  achieve  the  objects  desired, 
and  put  forth  as  the  basis  of  reforms  demanded  by 
the  people  of  the  country,  will  surely  compel  both 
parties  to  adopt  them,  and  become  their  supporters, 


344  LAND  AND  LABOR. 

to  the  extent,  at  least,  of  making  them  planks  in 
their  platforms.  In  this  way  the  desired  reformatory 
measures  would  meet  with  no  organized  political  op- 
position, and  leave  the  plutocrats  and  monopolists 
without  party  support,  but  still  not  without  the  great 
power  of  concentrated  capital  and  unity  of  purpose 
and  action  that  will  be  found  most  formidable  ;  not 
the  less  so  because  of  the  influences  which  they  can 
and  will  use  in  secret,  and  it  may  be,  also,  in  open 
corruption. 

The  times  are  now  ripe  for  the  action  proposed. 
The  questions  here  discussed  are  challenging  atten- 
tion in  many  forms.  Already  are  they  being  ap- 
proached by  able  inquirers  among  the  classes  where 
the  best  results  may  be  achieved.  It  only  remains 
for  the  workingmen  of  the  country  to  take  hold  of 
them  unitedly,  seeking  nothing  that  is  not  for  the 
common  good,  but  insisting  upon  whatever  is  neces- 
sary "  for  the  general  welfare  "  of  the  country.  Set- 
ting aside  all  trivial  matters,  but  firmly  advocating 
all  those  great  measures  so  necessary  to  the  cause  of 
human  advancement. 

Here,  in  the  United  States,  we  have  all  the  condi- 
tions for  eminent  prosperity.  We  have  a  vast  terri- 
tory, extending  from  ocean  to  ocean,  and  from  the 
tropics  to  the  frigid  zone,  with  soils  and  climates  that 
arc  adapted  to  the  bounteous  production  of  all  the 
necessaries  of  life,  and  much  the  larger  part  of  the 
luxuries.  Our  seasons  follow  in  such  uniform  succes- 
sion that  seed  time  and  harvest  rarely  or  never  fail. 
Wo  are  never  afflicted  with  wide  famines,  nor  de- 
stroyed by  general  floods.  Our  mountains  and  plains 


WHAT  SHALL   WE  DO?  345 

are  covered  with  the  greatest  abundance  of  useful  and 
ornamental  woods,  and  filled  with  an  affluence  of  all 
the  useful  and  precious  metals,  and,  also,  inexhausti- 
ble stores  of  building  and  ornamental  stone,  coal,  and 
oil.  Rivers,  streams,  lakes,  and  harbors  everywhere 
abound,  giving  highways  and  power  upon  every  hand. 
The  God  of  nature  has  dealt  bountifully  with  us, 
giving,  in  the  greatest  abundance,  all  the  elements  of 
health  and  strength. 

We  have  a  population  of  more  than  fifty  millions 
of  free  men  and  women,  governing  and  controlling 
ourselves  by  our  united,  or  general,  wisdom  or  folly. 
Our  people  are  more  generally  educated,  more  intel- 
lectually advanced,  with  a  more  universal  and  higher 
civilization  than  blesses  any  other  people.  Out  of 
our  civilization,  our  general  intellectual  advancement, 
has  grown  a  knowledge  and  use  of  the  forces  of  na- 
ture—  the  invention  of  machinery,  the  adoption  of 
labor  saving  processes — by  which  we  are  enabled, 
with  the  expenditure  of  far  less  of  physical  force  than 
in  former  ages,  and  great  economy  in  time,  to  pro- 
duce, in  the  greatest  abundance,  everything  necessary 
to  the  health  and  comfort  of  all.  More  than  this, 
these  new  forces  have  developed,  and  are  continually 
developing  and  widening  the  use  of  new  and  valuable 
productions  that  could  not  otherwise  have  been  used. 
This  power  marks  the  highest  order  of  development ; 
but,  like  every  other  great  power,  when  perverted,  or 
turned  from  its  proper  use,  it  becomes  an  instrument 
for  producing  the  greatest  evils,  as  is  now  illustrated. 
By  the  blessings  of  our  Creator  we  are  surrounded 
with  everything  necessary  to  prosperity  and  happi- 


346  LAND  AND  LABOR. 

ness  ;  by  our  own  folly  we  pervert  all  our  opportuni- 
ties and  powers,  and  change  our  blessings  to  curses. 
The  law  of  compensation  avenges  itself.  A  Divine 
Providence  immutably  speaks  through  all  His  laws. 

Ours  is  the  opportunity  to  not  only  bless  ourselves, 
but  to  become  an  example  to  all  other  peoples ;  to 
teach  all  nations  that  there  is  a  way  in  which  the 
highest  good  of  all  may  be  reached,  and  that  in  the 
highest  good  of  all  is  found  the  greatest  good  of  the 
individual.  Not  that  every  man  and  woman  can 
reach  the  same  degree  of  intellectual  excellence,  or 
position  of  material  comfort,  but  that  all  shall  have 
at  least  a  liberal  subsistence  guaranteed  from  his  own 
industry. 

This  can  not  be  brought  about  by  degrading  our 
industrial  classes  to  a  groveling  competition  with  the 
pauper  labor  and  slavish  customs  of  other  peoples. 
We  have  already  had  too  much  of  that,  bringing,  as 
it  does,  their  wretchedness  to  our  very  doors.  But  it 
is  well  to  look  a  little  more  closely  than  we  have  yet 
done,  and  see  the  real  condition  of  the  labor  in  that 
country  with  which  our  competition  has  been  most 
active,  and  which,  undoubtedly,  will  continue  to  have 
the  greatest  influence  upon  the  labor  and  industries 
of  our  people. 

During  the  time  that  this  volume  has  been  in  press, 
Robert  P.  Porter,  Esq.,  late  a  member  of  the  United 
States  Tariff  Commission,  has  been  examining  the 
great  industrial  interests  of  England,  on  behalf  of  the 
New  York  Daily  Tribune,  and  making  reports  of 
\vluit  he  observed,  and  the  facts  gathered,  in  a  series 
of  letters  to  that  great  journal.  From  those  letters 


WHAT  SHALL   WE  DO?  347 

I  make  a  few  extracts,  showing  the  earnings  and 
condition  of  the  laborers  there  employed.  The  ex- 
tracts will  be  necessarily  brief,  but  instructive.  The 
first  relates  to  the  great  iron  industries  near  Birming- 
ham ;  the  region  examined  having  a  population  of 
about  135,000,  of  which  24,000  are  engaged  in  making 
nails,  rivets,  etc.  Mr.  Porter  says,  writing  from  :  — 

"  LYE  WASTE,  Worcestershire,  March  5th. 
"  The  inhabitants  of  this  desolate  district  are  among 
the  most  industrious,  and  yet  the  most  wretched,  in 
England.  They  are  engaged  in  making  all  kinds  of 
nails,  rivets,  and  chains.  The  work  is  done  in  little 
c  smithys '  attached  to  the  hovels  in  which  the  workers 
reside,  and  for  which  the  usual  rent  seems  to  be  about 
2s.  4d.  to  2s.  6d.  a  week,  a  trifle  over  fifty  cents. 
These  houses,  as  a  rule,  contain  little  or  no  furniture. 
They  are  filthy  and  wretched  beyond  description. 
What  spare  time  the  unhappy  nailer's  wife  gets  from 
nursing  the  baby  and  preparing  the  meagre  meals,  is 
spent  at  the  smithy  fire  pounding  away  at  the  anvil 
until  late  at  night.  But  the  extra  work  that  the 
woman  does,  combined  with  that  of  one  child  —  say  a 
girl  of  fourteen  —  will  barely  keep  the  family  from 
starvation.  For  example  :  An  expert  nailer,  working 
steadily  from  Monday  morning  to  Friday  night,  can 
only  make  two  and  a  half  bundles  of  iron  rods  into 
nails,  for  which  he  gets  6s.  7Jd.  per  bundle,  or  for  his 
week's  work,  16s.  8d.,  exactly  $4.  Now,  his  Wife,  by 
working  every  moment  of  her  spare  time  and  late  into 
the  night  —  neglecting  the  wretched  little  children  — 
can  make  a  bundle  of  commoner  nails,  for  which  she 


348  LAND  AND  LABOR. 

is  paid  3s.  Id.,  and  the  little  half  starved,  stunted  girl 
of  twelve,  with  her  brown  arms  and  steady,  unerring 
aim,  will  hammer  out  half  a  bundle,  Is.  6£d.  Total 
earnings  of  an  industrious  and  hard  working  family, 
three  at  the  forge,  for  the  entire  work,  $5  13. 

"  But  out  of  this  pittance  must  come  3d.  for  car- 
riage of  iron  from  the  'foggerV  and  returning  the 
nails,  Is.  for  the  smithy  fire  and  3d.  for  the  wear  of 
tools.  Net  earning,  $4  77  per  week  —  the  united 
earnings  of  three  industrious  sober  persons.  I  stood 
in  the  'foggers"  shops  of  these  nailing  districts  and 
saw  the  pale,  emaciated  women  drag  their  weary  limbs 
up  the  narrow  black  hills  to  the  '  gaffers/  and  eagerly 
watch  the  weighing  of  the  heavy  sacks  of  nails.  The 
c  foggers '  do  not ( claim '  that  a  woman,  who  has  no 
family  to  attend  to,  and  who  goes  to  the  forge  every 
morning  and  works  all  day  as  a  man,  can  make  more 
than  8s.  a  week  —  less  than  two  dollars.  But  the 
truth  is  they  do  not  make  anything  like  that  amount. 

" '  How  many  nails  have  you  there/ 1  said  to  a  pale 
faced,  half  starved  looking  woman,  with  a  fresh  look- 
ing lass  of  sixteen  at  her  side.  The  nails  had  just 
been  turned  into  the  '  fogger's '  scales. 

" l  There  should  be  forty-six  pounds  back/  she  re- 
plied. l  They  are  a  small  nail  and  it  is  a  bundle  of 
rods  of  sixty  pounds  made  into  nails/ 

"  '  How  much  do  you  get  for  them  ? ' 

"  '  Ten  shillings,  sir/ 

" c  How  many  days  steady  work/  said  I,  taking  up 
one  of  the  well  shaped  hob  nails  ? 

" '  Six  days,  late  and  early,  sir/ 

"<  Alone?' 


WHAT  SHALL    WE  DO?  349 

" c  Oh,  no/  with  a  sickly  smile,  c  the  lass  here  has 
worked  steady  with  me/ 

" <  How  far  do  you  have  to  bring  those  nails  ?  ' 

" '  About  six  miles/ 

" i  And  walk  it? ' 

"'Yes.' 

" <  What  does  your  fire  and  the  carriage  and  the 
wear  of  tools  cost  you  a  week  ?  ' 

" '  At  least  a  shilling/ 

" i  Then  you  and  your  daughter,  working  all  day, 
six  days  in  the  week,  at  the  anvil  and  the  '  Oliver/ 
make  about  nine  shillings  ? '  ($2  16  a  week). 

" '  That  is  all  we  can  make,  sir/ 

" c  How  do  you  manage  to  live  ? ' 

" '  We  don't  live  :  we  hardly  exist.  We  rarely  taste 
meat.  I  don't  know  what  the  poor  folks  in  England 
are  coming  to.  If  they  as  work  at  other  trades  be 
like  us  God  help  them,  sir,  I  don't  know  what  will 
become  of  us.  A  many  of  us  have  to  go  to  the  work- 
house. So  far  I  have  not  taken  anything  from  them, 
but  I  may  have  to  do  it.  Work  is  very  slow  here 
sometimes,  and  it's  hard  even  to  get  what  we  do/ 

"  The  most  cruel  part  of  this  business  is  that  young 
women  should  be  allowed  to  work  at  what  is  called1 
the  '  Olivers/  a  heavy  iron  machine  worked  by  means 
of  two  wooden  treadles.  At  Halesowen  I  saw 'num- 
bers of  girls  making  large  eight  inch  bolts  on  these 
machines,  and  indeed  they  seem  to  work  with  mascu- 
line firmness  and  with  far  more  vigor  than  the  men. 
Mr.  Ball,  one  of  the  largest  nail  makers  of  the  dis- 
trict, told  me  that  hundreds  of  women  were  employed 
in  the  little  '  smithys '  at  the  back  of  the  houses  in 


350  LAND  AND  LA&OR. 

making  these  great  bolts,  and  I  visited  seven  or  eight 
establishments,  that  might  properly  be  classed  as  fac- 
tories, thus  employing  women.  Their  earnings  do 
not  exceed  $1  25  a  week. 

ee  In  this  way  mothers,  daughters,  and  mere  chil- 
dren toil  and  slave  on  from  year  to  year — indeed,  one 
man  told  me  nails  had  been  made  here  for  over  a  cen- 
tury in  this  way.  How  they  exist  is  a  mystery  to  me. 
They  live  in  hovels,  they  are  poorly  fed,  and  poorly 
clad.  They  marry  early,  and  several  girls  not  over 
seventeen  were  pointed  out  to  me  as  mothers  of  chil- 
dren two  and  three  years  of  age.  The  men  have  an 
unmuscular  look,  most  of  them  are  'very  pale  and 
lean  and  leaden  eyed/  The  small  nailers  are  not  pro- 
tected by  the  English  Factory  act,  and  they  work  in 
their  fathers'  shops  sometimes  until  late  at  night. 
The  time  to  see  the  nailers  at  work  is  Friday  night. 
The  sharp  din  of  the  hammer  on  the  anvil,  and  the 
dull  rapid  thud  of  the  '  oliver/  as  it  flattened  the 
heads  of  the  nails  and  spikes,  still  rings  in  my  ears 
from  last  night.  I  can  see  the  bright  sparks  from  the 
forge,  the  red  hot  nails  clattering  down  to  join  their 
cooler  brethren,  the  bending  forms  of  the  men,  the 
women,  and  the  girls,  little  children  creeping  into  the 
clattering,  scintillating  nail  shops,  for  the  sake  of 
warmth,  and  every  now  and  then  the  red  flames  from 
the  forges  illuminating  the  scene  and  making  more 
distinct  the  weird  forms  of  these  shadowy  creatures, 
doomed  to  a  never  ending  industrial  treadmill. 

"In  some  cases  I  found  mothers  and  three,  and 
even  four,  daughters  at  the  forge.  Many  of  the  nailers 
actually  starve,  and  cases  of  the  deepest  sorrow  are 


WHAT  SHALL   WE  DO?  351 

not  uncommon.  '  Misery/  as  The  London  Standard 
correspondent  wrote,  '  so  deep  and  dreadful  that  the 
most  graphic  pen  can  but  faintly  convey  its  depth  of 
sorrow,  are  witnessed/  Now  that  I  have  visited  this 
region  and  walked  through  it,  and  conversed  with  at 
least  a  hundred  of  these  industrial  slaves,  I  am  ready 
to  add  my  testimony  to  the  facts  contained  in  the  let- 
ter written  from  Edinburgh  Christmas  Day  (No.  5). 
I  can  simply  say  that  I  have  not  half  told  the  misery 
of  this  district,  and  of  a  dozen  other  industrial  dis- 
tricts in  England,  and  that  if  any  one  doubts  the 
facts,  I  will  gladly  take  them  with  me  to  any  of  the 
places  I  have  visited  for  The  Tribune  and  let  them 
see  with  their  own  eyes.  It  is  all  very  well  to  gloss 
these  things  over  and  keep  them  out  of  the  news- 
papers, as  they  do  in  England,  but  the  poor  in  Eng- 
land are  day  by  day  and  year  by  year  getting  poorer. 
Not  long  ago,  a  journalist  of  ability  undertook  to 
show  the  desperate  condition  of  the  working  classes 
here.  I  do  not  mean  idle,  worthless,  good  for  nothing 
people,  but  just  such  industrious  people  as  those  de- 
scribed in  this  letter.  He  sent  the  result  of  his  in- 
quiries to  a  Liberal  journal  and  the  manager  refused 
to  publish  the  facts.  He  wrote  :  — '  It  is  better  not  to 
call  attention  to  such  matters.  Ifr  could  do  no  good/ 

"  In  this  way  they  hope  to  tempt  the  United  States 
to  throw  down  its  protective  barriers,  and,  at  the  awful 
risk  of  bringing  our  own  labor  to  this  condition,  give 
back  to  England  the  sixty  millions  of  customers  she 
has  lost  in  so  many  important  branches  of  industry. 

"  It  is  time  the  truth  about  industrial  England  is 
told.  The  London  Standard  has  dared  to  speak  out 


352  LAND  AND  LABOR. 

on  the  condition  of  labor  in  the  Black  Country,  and 
when  that  paper  makes  the  following  statement  I  can 
say  that  it  actually  accords  with  some  of  the  horrible 
facts  which  have  come  within  my  observation  during 
my  stay  in  this  dismal  region. 

"e  Women  within  a  few  days  of  their  confinement 
have  been  known  to  work  in  the  agony  of  exhaustion, 
in  order  to  earn  a  few  pence  at  the  '  hearth '  -  not 
the  'hearth'  of  home,  but  the  hearth  of  the  ' forge  ; ' 
they  have  been  known  to  return  to  work  in  a  day  or 
two  after  childbirth,  emaciated  in  constitution,  weak 
and  weary  for  the  want  of  simple  nourishment.  Their 
children,  ragged  and  ill  fed,  have  had  to  lead  misera- 
ble and  wretched  lives,  with  no  hope  before  them  but 
a  life  of  wickedness  and  vice/ 

"  It  matters  little  to  these  poor  fellows  what  the 
cost  of  clothing  is,  for  they  can  not  get  it.  Taking 
the  net  earnings  of  the  man,  his  wife,  and  his  little 
daughter,  which  I  have  shown  in  the  above  tables  was 
less  than  19s.,  and  here  is  what  he  can  buy  for  it. 
The  man  and  his  wife  sat  down  with  me  and  gave  the 
facts  with  great  detail  and  care  to  'get  it  exactly 
right:' 

s.  d.  s.  d. 

Rent 2  4    Candles 3 

Coal 2         Flour 6 

I  In  ;ul 4         Tobacco 6 

Bacon 3         Club 4 

Cheese 1   6  Clothing  and  boots  and 

Butter 1  shoes,  etc 1 

Potatoes 6 

Tea 1   6        Total 19s. 

Sugar 7 


WHAT  SHALL  WE  DO?  353 

"  And  the  above  is  fair  wages,  not  only  for  the  nail- 
er, but  for  the  laboring  man  in  every  section  of  Eng- 
land, without  one  exception  —  less  than  $5  a  week. 
A  necessary  housekeeping  utensil,  a  pair  of  boots  or  a 
garment,  as  both  the  man  and  his  wife  assured  me, 
meant  total  abstinence  from  meat  for  the  week,  while 
a  doctor  for  a  dying  baby  or  sick  wife  is  nothing  short 
of  a  domestic  calamity." 

From  Bradford,  the  center  of  the  silk  industry,  Mr. 
Porter  writes  under  date  of  January  22nd,  where, 
during  his  stay  of  a  week,  he  had  "  visited  many  of 
the  principal  mills."  He  says  :  — 

"  The  factory  people,  who  live  in  comfortable  houses 
near  the  mill,  seem  contented  and  thrifty.  The  silk 
weavers  are  a  better  class  of  girls  than  those  engaged 
in  the  worsted  mills,  and  earn  more  money.  Each 
family  pays  about  4s.  6d.  or  4s.  9d.  a  week  rent. 
Their  houses  each  contain  one  general  room,  two  bed- 
rooms, and  a  garret.  The  floor  of  the  lower  room  is 
paved  with  stone  flags,  in  most  cases  partly  covered 
by  a  rug,  which  can  be  taken  up  "wash  days."  Many 
of  the  rooms  are  cosy,  with  a  well  blacked  grate,  white 
hearth,  cheerful  blazing  fire,  green  or  straw  colored 
Venetian  blinds,  mahogany  furniture  covered  with 
horse  hair  cloth,  plenty  of  shells  and  cheap  glass  or- 
naments, and  a  profusion  of  antimacassars.  I  called 
at  a  score  or  so  of  these  cottages  and  talked  with  the 
pleasant  old  Yorkshire  dames  who  kept  house  while 
husband  and  daughters  were  at  work.  Some  were 
making,  all  told,  30s.  a  week  by  the  united  efforts  of 
husband  and  daughters ;  others  only  22s.  They 


354  LAND  AND  LABOR. 

never  owned  a  home,  and  never  expected  to.  All  had 
heard  of  the  land  beyond  the  seas,  and  one  or  two  had 
relatives  who  had  gone  out  and  done  well.  They 
complained  very  much  of  the  high  price  of  provisions 
in  England.  Of  course  those  engaged  in  Lister's  mills 
are  a  superior  class  of  operatives.  The  houses  in  the 
other  divisions  of  the  city  were  not  so  good,  and  the 
interiors  did  not  present  the  same  comfortable  appear- 
ance. The  inmates  of  the  latter  complained  of  the 
dullness  of  trade,  of  their  meager,  almost  starvation 
earnings,  and  longed  for  something  better. 

" c  By  strict  economy/  said  one, '  we  are  able  to  get 
enough  to  live  upon  ;  but  saving  is  almost  an  impos- 
sibility, unless  there  are  at  least  three  wage  earners 
in  the  family/ 

"  In  such  cases  the  girls  were  able  to  dress  respect- 
ably, and  the  family  to  live  more  comfortably/' 

From  Middlesborough,  in  the  coal  and  iron  region, 
Mr.  Porter  writes,  under  date  of  February  20  :  — 

"  In  this  trip  I  made  the  most  careful  inquiries  in 
regard  to  the  actual  earnings  of  the  iron  workers,  and 
found  that  the  average  earnings  of  ( slaggers '  was  4s. 
and  4d.,  or  §1  04  a  day  ;  of  '  mine  fillers/  4s.  8d.,  or 
$1  12 ;  of  'chargers/  5s.  3d.  to  5s.  6d.,  or  about  $1  30 
per  day,  and  '  keepers/  6s.  6d.  to  7s.,  or  $1  50  per 
day.  These  figures  are  absolutely  trustworthy,  and 
were  corroborated  in  every  case,  and  taken  down  in 
the  presence  of  Dr.  Hedley.  Laborers  are  paid  in 
Middlesborough  3s.  to  3s.  and  2d.,  or  about  80  cents 
a  day ;  but  I  found  several  laboring  men  who  said 
they  only  received  2s.  8d.,  or  64  cents  per  day.  House 


\YllAT  SHALL   WE  DO  t 

rents  vary  from  as  low  as  2s.  Gd.  a  week  to  5s.,  and 
some  of  the  better  houses  7s.  6d.  a  week.  The  latter 
houses  are  occupied  by  foremen  and  men  earning  say 
$7  50  a  week,  and  who,  perhaps,  have  one  or  more 
children  employed  in  the  neighboring  works  or  facto- 
ries. Men  working  in  the  Bessemer  pits  are  paid 
from  5s.  Gd.  to  Gs.,  or  about  $1  50  per  day/' 

From  Hanley,  the  center  of  the  crockery  interest, 
Mr.  Porter  writes  under  date  of  March  12th  :  — 

"  Here  then  are  about  three  fourths  of  the  operators 
at  $8  14  and  $G  86  a  week,  if  we  take  the  employers' 
estimate  (which  is  disputed  by  the  men).  Then  the 
printers,  of  whom  Mr.  Lane  says  there  would  be  forty 
in  a  factory  employing  two  hundred  hands  in  white 
ware,  are  the  lowest  paid  of  all  —  only  $6  55  per 
week.  All  three  of  these  classes,  aggregating  un- 
doubtedly over  three  fourths  of  the  entire  skilled 
labor  of  the  Pottery  District,  receive  far  less  than  the 
average.  I  have  merely  gone  into  these  details  to 
show  the  absurdity  of  averaging  wages.  The  un- 
skilled hands  in  those  potteries  make  from  4s.,  or  $1, 
to  perhaps  £1,  or  $5,  a  week. 

" '  How  much  do  you  make  ? '  said  I  to  a  dark  eyed 
young  woman  in  the  print  shop. 

" '  Ah  moost  do  a  many  to  mek  oot  mah  dee's 
work/ 

" '  How  much  money  a  week,  I  mean  ? ' 
" '  Oh,  we  doan't  make  more  than  ten  shillins/ 
"The  only  fair  method  of  comparing  wages  is  to 
take  the  same  department  of  work  in  each  country. 
For  example,  plate  makers  in  England  average  $7  50 


356  LAND  AND  LABOR. 

a  week ;  in  the  United  States  $20  30.  English  dish 
makers  make  $9  62  ;  Americans  $19  43.  English 
cup  makers,  $9  92 ;  Americans  $19  67.  And  so  on 
through  the  list.  It  is  not  so  much  in  the  skilled 
work  that  the  British  workman  has  cause  to  com- 
plain, but  I  have  found  throughout  England  that 
great  suffering  exists  among  the  laboring  classes  and 
those  whose  work  does  not  require  much  skill.  For 
example,  in  the  English  potteries,  according  to  the 
masters,  the  hollow  ware  presser,  the  oven  man,  and 
the  printer  (representing  over  three  fourths  of  the 
skilled  labor)  receive  $8  14,  $6  86,  and  $6  55  respec- 
tively ;  while  in  the  United  States  they  receive  $17  90, 
$13  18,  and  $13  56  respectively.  In  short,  with  the 
additional  high  pay  in  the  United  States  for  the  un- 
skilled labor,  and  for  the  lads  and  girls,  it  puts  what 
I  may  call  the  bone  and  sinew  of  the  trade  on  a  living 
basis,  where  they  can  live  comfortably  and  save  money, 
own  their  homes,  and  be  men  and  women.  It  is  this 
class  that  feel  more  severely  than  any  other  a  reduc- 
tion of  wages,  and  it  is  this  class,  for  they  are  after 
all  the  many,  that  give  strength,  character  and  pros- 
perity to  a  country.  It  is  an  undoubted  fact  that 
three  fourths  of  the  people  of  the  entire  pottery  dis- 
trict live  on  25s.  ($6)  or  less  a  week  per  man.  What 
can  that  buy  them  ?  Consul  Lane  has  kindly  given  me 
an  average  estimate  of  the  weekly  expenses  of  a  man 
with  a  wife  and  two  children  (a  small  family  in  Eng- 
land), whose  income  for  the  year  round  averages 
($6)  a  week.  Here  it  is,  and  a  perusal  shows  the 

'i' -ness  of  the  cry  of  cheap  cloths.     Admitting 
tin  TO  is  any  difference  in  the  price  of  the  common 


WHAT  SHALL  WE  DO?  357 

grades  of  clothing  (which  I  begin  seriously  to  doubt) 
at  home  and  here,  the  bulk  of  English  potters,  accord- 
ing to  their  own  statements,  have  but  50  cents  a  week 
to  invest,  aside  from  actual  cost  of  keeping  body  and 
soul  together." 

From  Leeds,  in  the  great  woolen  district,  Mr.  Por- 
ter writes,  under  date  of  January  23,  1873  :  - 

"  Some  of  the  most  trustworthy  of  Bradford's  man- 
ufacturers assured  me  that  young  persons  from  thir- 
teen to  eighteen  years  of  age  never  earned  more  than 
12s.  (less  than  $3)  a  week,  and  that  they  descended 
as  low  as  6s.  (less  than  $1  50)  a  week  for  fifty-six 
hours  of  steady,  confining,  dusty,  tedious  work,  and 
that  men  varied  in  their  earnings  from  15s.,  18s.,  to 
20s.  (from  $3  75  to  $5),  but  that  the  latter  was 
exceptional,  he  said.  And  this  with  a  family  to 
maintain. 

"  And  so  toiling  and  sorrowing,  with  no  future  and 
little  hope,  contented  to  live  and  die  in  the  shadow 
of  these  giant  factories,  with  little  or  no  chance  to 
better  themselves  ;  fixtures,  in  fact,  around  the  mills, 
as  the  peasants  were  to  the  land  in  the  feudal  times, 
the  English  operatives  slave  on,  while  the  mill  owner 
discusses  in  the  club  how  he  can  produce  an  article  a 
farthing  cheaper  per  yard.  The  idea  of  cheapness  per- 
vades the  whole  kingdom.  It  is  all  some  people  seem 
to  live  for.  There  is  no  limit  to  it.  The  struggle  for 
cheapness  sometimes  brings  ruin  to  the  mill  owner 
and  starvation  to  the  operatives.  But  for  all  that 
the  struggle  goes  on.  For  example,  when  in  Scot- 
land, in  December,  I  travelled  in  some  cases  for  less 


358  LAND  AND  LABOR. 

than  a  penny  a  mile,  first  class.  In  my  opinion  no  one 
demands  this  ;  in  fact  the  public  has  no  right  to  de- 
mand it,  for  it  means  the  degradation  of  labor.  What 
is  the  result  of  Scotland's  cheap  railway  travelling  ? 
A  strike  —  which  has  unfolded  to  the  public  what 
their  so  called  '  demands  for  cheap  travelling '  mean  — 
the  suffering  that  their  fellow  beings  have  undergone. 
"It  is  not  a  mere  question,  in  Scotland,  whether 
the  men  shall  work  fifty-six  or  fifty-seven  hours  a 
week ;  but  it  is  whether  they  should  be  required  to 
hang  on  at  important  duty  till  nature  is  so  exhausted 
that  they  fall  asleep  clutching  the  handles  of  the 
critical  levers,  on  the  accurate  moving  of  which  the 
lives  of  hundreds  of  travellers  depend.  At  one  of  the 
meetings  of  the  men,  this  week,  an  engine  driver 
stated  that  in  one  week  he  worked  ninety-six  hours, 
his  Thursday's  spell  lasting  twenty-three  and  one 
half  hours.  A  pointsman  had  two  hundred  hours 
duty  in  a  single  fortnight.  A  goods  guard  for  twenty 
consecutive  days  had  three  hundred  and  sixty  work- 
ing hours,  or  an  average  of  eighteen  hours  a  day. 
These  astonishing  revelations  might  well  make  one 
pause,  when  advocating  that  cheapness  is  the  only 
thing  to  be  considered.  Cheapness  in  railroading  and 
( li<-;ipness  in  manufacturing  means  the  exhaustion  or 
the  starvation  of  the  laborers.  It  can  be  obtained  in 
no  other  way.  Free  Trade  may  bring  cheapness.  It 
will  not  prevent  the  degradation  of  labor. 

« ROBERT  P.  PORTER." 

The  above  may  be  taken  as  fairly  representing  the 
condition  of  the  industries  and  working  people  of  Eng- 


WHAT  SHALL   WE  DO?  ;;.V.) 

land.  England  is  to-day  preeminently  the  country, 
above  all  others,  thai  manufactures  for  the  world — - 
that  depends  upon  the  markets  of  tin-  world  1'nr  tin- 
disposition  and  consumption  of  her  products.  That 
country  is  the  great  apostle  of  "Free  Trud<\"  which, 
if  it  has  any  blessings,  should  have  gilded  tin-  whole- 
land  and  made  it  a  very  paradise,  in  the  full  century 
it  has  occupied  that  position.  There,  also,  the  desire 
for  "  cheapness  "  pervades  the  whole  kingdom,  and  is 
all  that  many  live  for ;  and  competition  is  their  life- 
blood.  But  here  we  have,  in  the  case  of  England,  the 
indisputable  evidence  that,  for  the  people,  the  only 
fruits  of  manufacturing  for  the  world,  foreign  markets, 
free  trade,  cheapness,  and  competition,  are  slavery  for 
men,  women,  and  children,  with  want,  misery,  starva- 
tion, and  death  in  all  its  most  horrible  forms.  These 
things  have  made  that  country  an  industrial  hell. 

We,  also,  have  been  struggling  for  the  world's  mar- 
kets and  for  the  remainder  of  those  imaginary  bless- 
ings that  England  possesses  in  so  eminent  a  degree, 
and  find  our  industries  and  people  rapidly  following 
those  of  the  mother  country.  Indeed,  in  some  things 
we  have  already  passed  them.  Mr.  Porter  reports 
"  fifty-six  hours  of  steady,  confining,  dusty,  tedious 
work,"  in  a  week,  as  the  lot  of  the  mill  workers.  In 
our  blessed  land,  in  Massachusetts,  it  is  sixty  hours, 
and  in  Connecticut  and  all  of  the  other  States,  it  is 
sixty-six  or  more.  He  also  reports  the  excessive  labor 
of  railroad  employes  in  Scotland,  even  to  one  hundred 
hours  a  week.  In  our  country  a  common  and  regular 
time  for  conductors  and  drivers  on  our  street  railroads 
is  from  fifteen  to  eighteen  hours  a  day.  A  long  list 


360  LAND  AND  LABOR. 

of  such  comparisons  may  be  easily  made  up.  Nor  in 
the  matter  of  cheapness  is  England  always  in  the  lead. 

Nevertheless  it  is  true  that  the  general  condition  of 
those  who  find  work  in  England  is  far  worse  than  the 
same  class  with  us.  But  it  is  equally  true  that  we 
are  fast  closing  the  gap  that  lies  between  the  two. 
How  vast  have  been  our  strides  within  the  past  eigh- 
teen years  !  Unfortunately,  we  have  in  our  midst  a 
large  number  of  persons,  composed  mostly  of  popular 
political  economists,  in  and  out  of  college  professor- 
ships, and  politicians  of  all  grades,  from  the  halls  of 
Congress,  up  and  down,  who  join  with  the  foreign 
trader,  and  insist  that  our  only  path  to  prosperity  is 
to  be  found  by  treading  in  the  trail  that  England  has 
made  —  by  competing  with  the  slaves  of  the  world, 
and  sinking  our  people  to  a  depth  of  degradation  from 
which  there  can  be  no  resurrection. 

Workingmen  of  America  !  You  have  an  absolute 
power  of  control  in  this  whole  matter.  It  is  the  first 
time  in  the  history  of  the  world  that  the  people  have 
so  completely  held  their  destinies  in  their  own  hands. 
Shall  the  good  that  we  have  be  preserved  and  trans- 
mitted to  our  children,  purified  from  the  evils  which 
now  so  heavily  press,  with  labor  made  respectable, 
and  all  our  industries  preserved  from  all  possible  for- 
eign competition,  not  one  lost  or  injured,  but  passed 
on  to  our  children  as  a  sure  guarantee  of  long  life  and 
prosperity  to  our  country  ?  or  shall  we  continue  to 
drift  on  as  we  have  been,  until  anarchy  and  misery 
are  swallowed  up  in  destruction  ?  You  only  can  an- 
swer. What  shall  we  do  ? 


LA.ISTD  .AISTD  LAJBOH 

IN  THE  UNITED   STATES. 

BY  WM.  GODWIN  MOODY. 

In  this  work  the  great  problems  connected  with  the  LAND 
and  LABOR  of  our  country  are  practically  and  thoroughly 
examined,  showing  the  remedies  that  may  be  effectually 
applied  for  the  cure  of  the  social  evils  now  so  pressing. 

One  Volume,  12mo.,  860  pages. 

Special  attention  is  called  to  the  following  from  some  of 
our  most  thoughtful  and  eminent  citizens:  — 

TESTIMONIALS 

From  the  Hon.  HENRT  W.  JiLAIlt,  United  States  Senator  from 
Netv  Hampshire^  and  Chairman  of  Committee  on  Labor  and 
Education. 

UNITED  STATES  SENATE, 
WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  JAN'Y  20,  1883. 

I  HAVE  examined  the  proof  sheets  of  a  new  work  written  by  Mr. 
W.  GODWIN  MOODY,  upon  the  subject  of  LAND  AND  LABOR,  and 
the  economic  and  industrial  problems  which  concern  the  welfare  of 
the  people  of  the  United  States  and  of  modern  civilization.  His 
book  is  full  of  facts  of  the  greatest  importance,  many  of  them  very 
difficult  to  procure,  and  not  hitherto  brought  to  public  attention  to 
my  knowledge. 

MR.  Moody  is  a  profound  thinker,  and  is  master  of  a  condensed 
and  trenchant  style.  His  theoretical  views  are  many  of  them  very 
striking,  not  to  say  startling,  but  are  sustained  with  a  clearness  and 
power  which  will  arrest  the  attention  of  every  thoughtful  man. 

I  think  his  book  the  most  original,  and  one  of  the  most  important 
contributions  to  the  discussions  of  political  economy  made  in  recent 
years.  I  do  not  mean  to  be  understood  that  I  am  prepared  to  en- 
dorse all  his  conclusions,  for  some  of  them  challenge  close  attention, 
and  their  adoption  requires  the  overthrow  of  many  of  the  views 
which  hitherto  have  generally  prevailed. 

H.  W.   BLAIR. 


2  LAND  AND  LABOR— TESTIMONIALS. 

From  the  Hon.  GEORGE  WILLIAM  CURTIS,  of  New  York. 

WEST  NEW  BRIGHTON,  STATEN  ISLAND,  N.  Y., 

DEC.  GTH,  1882. 
My  Dear  Sir :  — 

I  HAVE  read  the  sheets  of  your  work  with  very  great 
interest  and  pleasure.  It  is  a  treasury  of  most  significant  facts 
which,  so  far  as  I  know,  are  not  elsewhere  so  conveniently  collected. 
The  work  is  a  valuable  contribution  to  an  unavoidable  and  most 
important  discussion,  and  will  certainly  command  the  attention 
of  all  who  share  the  generous  hope  of  harmonizing  conflicting  social 
interests. 

Very  truly  yours, 

GEORGE  WILLIAM  CURTIS. 
W.  GODWIN  MOODY,  ESQ. 

From  the  Hon.  DAVID  DAVIS,  late  United  States  Senator  from 
Illinois,  and  Acting  Vice  1'rcs'ulcnt. 

UNITED  STATES  SKNATF.  CHAMBER, 

WASHINGTON,  JUNE  5ra,  1879. 
Dear  Sir :  — 

I  HAVE  read  with  much  interest  and  instruction  the 
proof  sheets  of  "The  Labor  Problem"  which  you  weiv  kind  enough 
to  send  me. 

The  facts  presented  in  that  paper  are  worthy  of  the  most  serious 
attention  of  the  Statesman  and  Legislator.  They  apply  to  one  third 
of  our  whole  population,  now  prostrated  by  want  of  employment  and 
isonable  reward  for  their  toil.  No  country  can  expect  to  flourish 
with  its  lal»or  degraded  ;ind  dejuvemted.  In  the  United  States  labor 
i>  honorable,  and  may  be  said  to  constitute  the  bone  and  sinew  of  the 
Republic.  In  war  it  is  the  most  sure  resource  of  defense,  ami  in 
peace  it  has  always  been,  and  always  must  be,  the  chief  element  of 

nal  prosperity. 

\Vho<  ver  can  solve  what  is  called  "the  Labor  Problem,"  by  which 
fourteen  millions  of  willing  hands  will  be  set  at  work,  with  just  com- 
pensation to  dev.-ite  their  condition  and  to  educate  their  child  PH. 
should  be  regarded  the  greatest  public  benefactor.  It  is  my  highest 
ambition  to  contribute  to  that  object,  in  any  proper  way  by  which  it 
may  be  attained,  in  or  out  of  Congress. 
With  gn-at  respect, 

Yours  truly, 

DAVID  DAVIS. 
\V.   <;<>!> \vi\   M.miiv,    I-'SQ., 
Boston,  Mass. 


LAND  AND  LABOR—  TESTIMONIALS.  8 

From  the  Hon.  GEORGE  F.  HOAR,  United  States  Senator  from 


WASHINGTON,  DEC.  6,  79. 
My  Dear  Sir  :  — 

I  H  AVI;  ivad  your  papers  with  pleasure.  They  are 
written  with  great  clearness  of  style,  and  precision  in  the  use  of 
words,  in  excellent  temper,  without  heat  or  bitterness. 

I  have  long  ago  formed  and  expressed  the  opinion  that  the  work  - 
inginen  ought  to  get,  in  greater  wages  and  reduced  hours  of  work, 
their  share  of  the  increased  production  caused  by  the  invention  and 
perfection  of  machinery.  So  far  I  agree  with  your  conclusions. 
Some  of  the  propositions  which  you  lay  down  as  steps  in  your  process 
of  reasoning  are  new  to  me,  and  seem  to  demand  further  reflection. 
I  am, 

Yours  very  truly, 

GEO.  F.  HOAR. 
MR.  W.  GODWIN  MOODY. 


From  the  Rev.  EDWARD  ANDERSON,  Pastor  of  the  First  Pres- 
byterian Church,  Toledo,  O/rio,  and  late  Pastor  of  the  First 
Congregational  Church,  Quincy,  Illinois. 

STUDY,  FIRST  UNION  CONGREGATIONAL  CHURCH, 

QUINCY,  ILL.,  DEC.  23,  1878. 
Dear  Moody :  — 

I  HAVE  been  thinking  a  good  deal  about  the  matter 
of  our  correspondence,  and  the  more  I  think  the  more  grows  on  me 
the  importance  of  the  discussion,  and  of  your  being  in  the  field  at 
work  on  it.  I  am  sure  you  have  the  only  solution  of  our  problem  ; 
and  that  there  is  no  other  way  out  of  our  hard  times.  This  must  be 
solved  soon. 

Last  night  (Forefathers'  sermon)  I  discussed  the  general  question, 
without  statistics,  in  my  service.     Our  people  seemed  deeply  inter- 
ested.    That  interest  must  grow.     Some  earthquake  must  rouse  the 
people.     You  remember  that  it  took  the  guns  of  Sumter  to  blow  the 
cotton  out  of  people's  ears,  and  to  shatter  the  film  over  their  eyes,  at 
the  beginning  of  our  Rebellion.     Our  people  are  hard  to  rouse  for  a 
swing  ;  but,  roused,  they  are  honest,  ingenious,  and  very  prompt. 
I  want  to  write  more  of  this,  but  am  now, 
Affect'y  yr.  Friend, 

EDW'D  AXDERSON. 


4  LAND  AND  LABOR— TESTIMONIALS. 

From  the  Rev.  Dr.  It.  J1EBER  NEWTON,  Rector  of  All  Saint*' 
Church,  New  York  City. 

MR.  W.  GODWIN  MOODY, 

My  Dear  Sir :  — 

I  HAVE  looked  over  the  man- 
uscript sent  me  with  exceeding  interest.  The  subject  to  which  you 
have  given  such  careful  study  for  several  years,  as  I  have  personally 
known,  is  one  of  supreme  importance  to  the  future  of  our  country  — 
that  is  to  say,  of  the  world.  I  know  of  no  one  who  has  followed  the 
trail  of  our  present  tendency  in  agriculture  so  patiently.  The  facts 
you  have  gathered  will  prove  to  most  men,  even  to  most  students 
of  social  science,  a  revelation  full  of  warning.  They  are  of  such  a 
nature  as  to  engage  attention  at  once  on  presentation  —  and  will,  I 
have  no  doubt,  provoke  a  wide  discussion.  They  ought  to  be  laid 
before  the  people,  by  whom  they  will  be  read,  I  am  sure,  with  quick 
appetite. 

Yours  cordially, 

R.  HEBER  NEWTON. 
All  Souls'  Church,  New  York,  Dec.  14,  1882. 


From  ROBERT  D.  LATTON,  Grand  Secretary  of  the  Noble  Or- 
der of  the  Kni'j/its  of  Labor  of  North  America. 

PITTSBURGH,  APRIL  16th,  1883. 
WILLIAM  GODWIN  MOODY, 

Dear  Sir :  — 

Amid  the  hurly  burly  of  my  office 

duties  I  have  found  time  to  read  the  advanced  sheets  of  your  remark- 
able book. 

I  knew,  in  a  general  way,  of  the  monstrous  Devil  Fish  —  Land 
Monopolies  —  but  never  really  comprehended  its  magnitude  until  I 
began  the  reading  of  your  exposition. 

I  congratulate  you  upon  the  happy,  felicitous  style  in  which  you 
have  presented  this  cancer  in  our  nation.  It  reads  as  pleasant  as  a 
romance,  whilst  it  unerringly  points  out  our  terrible  condition.  I 
trust  your  valuable  work  will  find  a  place  in  the  home  of  every  son 
of  Adam  who  toils  for  his  bread,  that  he  may  know  the  answer  to 
that  universal  prayer  now  welling  up  in  their  hearts,  What  must  we 
do  to  be  saved  ? 

Yours  for  humanity, 

ROB'T  D.  LAYTON,  G.  S. 


LAND  AND  LABOR—  TESTIMONIALS.  5 

From  the  Jiev.  MIXOT  «7.   SA  VAGE,  Pastor  of  the  Church  of  the 
Unity,  lioston,  Massachusetts. 

JAN'Y  9,  '83. 
W.  GODWIN  MOODY,  ESQ., 

Dear  Sir:  — 

I  have  read  carefully  such  chapters  of 
your  proposed  book  as  you  have  put  into  my  hands. 

Much  of  it  I  do  not  agree  with,  and  perhaps  should  feel  called  upon 
to  attack  in  the  proper  time  and  place.  But  you  have  put  your  case 
vigorously.  The  subject  is  most  important  and  timely.  And  I  am 
of  the  opinion  that  such  a  publication  might  call  out  a  much  needed 
discussion,  and  help  toward  a  solution  of  some  very  important 
problems.  I  know  you  desire  only  that  the  truth  should  be  brought 
to  the  front ;  and  so  I  wish  you  success  in  your  endeavors. 
Most  sincerely, 

M.  J.  SAVAGE. 


From  FRANCIS  B.  THURBEIt,  Esq.,  Merchant,  New  YorJe. 

W.  G.  MOODY,  ESQ., 

Dear  Sir :  — 

REFERRING  to  the  work  on  politico-eco- 
nomic subjects  of  which  you  have  been  kind  enough  to  show  me  one 
or  two  chapters,  I  would  say  that  they  are  certainly  very  striking  in 
character,  and  I  believe  the  present  time  is  a  propitious  one  for  the 
publication  of  such  a  book.  Many  persons  have  had  this  line  of 
thought  forced  upon  them  by  events  during  the  last  few  years,  and  it 
seems  to  me  probable  that  a  work  of  this  kind  would  be  more  gener- 
ally sought  for  than  at  any  time  within  my  recollection. 
Yours  truly, 

F.  B.  THURBER. 


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